So Cold They Burn: Thawing the Notoski Twins
by Etsuke Hansamora
Summary: The Host Club has mistaken twin girls for boys, and after an accident, the twins become hosts. Haruhi realizes the twins are girls, but the others are convinced they are boys, except Kyoya, of course. When the Hitachiin twins stumble in on the twins changing, the secret is out. Then it's a mad scramble for the twins as they stumble after the Notoskis, trying to thaw their icy heart
1. Goodbye England, Hello Japan

Firukia and Zakia Notoski were fatherless, and their mother had left them to go to Japan. She was going to start a mega corporation, to get a better life for her and her children. In the meantime, her twin girls stayed in several foster homes, causing trouble where ever they stayed, and at school. Both were straight A students though, so the only ones that complained were the foster families. From eleven years old to fifteen, the Notoski twins learn to depend only on each other. They iced everyone else out, eventually just refusing to speak to anyone but each other unless they had no other choice.

When they are fifteen, word comes from Japan. Their mother has started her business, working closely with a man called Yuzuru Suoh. She transports goods and wares and also has a small department that is expanding, which is focused on selling the top fashions from other countries for Japan.

Their mother wanted the twins to come to Japan, to live with her. They wouldn't have to hop family to family anymore. There was also an academy there she wanted the twins to attend. They would be first years, the equivalent of freshmen.

The twins moved from England, the only place they'd ever known, to take a plane to Japan. When they arrived, a limo carried them and what few possesions they had to what appeared to be a small castle. Their family had become very wealthy, indeed.

When the car stopped, the twins got out and were greeted by their mother. She's changed completely. She used to wear yoga pants and tee shirts. Now she was wearing a black business dress with tall black heels.

She hugged them tightly, but the twins didn't hug her back. Nor did they smile, or say a word. Their mother frowned. She didn't understand her girls' behaviour. She took a hand of each and lead them up the steps. She had them leave their things, saying their servants would carry them to their rooms.

Inside seemed even bigger than outside. Soaring ceilings, polished tile floors, velvet stairs, crystal chandeliers. The picture of luxury. The twins looked at each other. They didn't like it.

The twins' new life seemed like it would be a bore. They decided, they'd cause so much trouble her, their mother would send them back to England. The girls preferred it there. Even if they had no one but each other, they could be however they wanted, whoever they wanted. Here, they would be expected to be ladies, and wear dresses, despite their tomboy personalities and boyish appearances.

The twins and their mother ate a silent dinner, and the twins retired to their room. Or, rooms. The twins rooms were separated. For this, they hated their mother. The twins never separated.

Rather than sleep in their separate rooms, Firukia, the older twin, moved her things into Zakia's room. The twins lay in their bed, eyes wide open, even though the light was off. It would be a restless night for them.


	2. Welcome to Ouran

"Furukia, I can't sleep."

"Neither can I, Zakia."

"I don't like it here."

"I know. I don't either. I don't want us to have to pretend to be something that is our total opposite."

"What do you think the academy will be like?"

"I don't know. I would have you get the laptop so we could look it up, but I don't know the name of it."

"We start tomorrow?"

"That's what Mother said. I've heard her mention the girls all wear frilly dresses. We'll have to make sure we don't. We hate dresses."

"What do you think the people there will be like?"

"Like all the others. They won't tell us apart. But that's not our problem. Our problem is that they don't understand us, that we're not like them. They didn't grow up like us."

"I remember. I don't want to wear anything that makes us stand out tomorrow. We'll wear our big black hoodies and baggy black jeans. Our tennis shoes are comfy."

"Sounds comfy to me."

Looking at each other, we smiled. After that, it wasn't quite so hard to fall asleep.

The next day, we wore exactly what we'd talked about the night before. When we came down to breakfast, our mother looked at us with scorn.

"You can't wear that to Ouran Academy."

"This is what we want to wear. We won't wear dresses," Furukia said.

Our mother sighed, agitated.

"Very well. I will speak with Yuzuru. He's the chairman of the school, you know. He has a second year son, named Tamaki. Be friendly with him, will you?"

We looked at each other again, knowing full well she would be lucky if we even spoke to him.

"Go get in the car. It will take you to Ouran. I'm afraid I can't accompany you today. I have some calls to make."

We each took our hashbrown patty with us, munching on them in the limo. When we came to the gate of the school, all we could do was stare with distaste. The school was pink, first of all. And it was obviously a rich kid private school. The huge gate opened, and the car crawled by. It stopped at the steps. Several limos were already there.

"I can't believe Mother is making us join this school in the middle of the year. It's stupid. Why couldn't we have finished Freshman year in England?"

"Because she's obviously is trying to show us off, or something."

I scowled. Furukia crawled out first, and I followed. We walked up to the large door, and it opened for us. A man stood there, waiting.

"Welcome, Notoski siblings." He pronounced it not-ah-ski.

"Notoski," I said, pronouncing it properly as no-toe-ski.

"Sorry. Notoski. You are twins, in class One A?"

"Yes, sir," Furukia said.

"You are not the only twins here at Ouran. Two of my son's friends, also in class One A, are twins."

We glanced at each other. We agreed silently to say nothing. These other twins wouldn't be like us.

"Anyhow, my name is Yuzuru Suoh, and I am chairman of this school. Welcome to Ouran."

"Does your son go here as well?" I asked out of curiosity and politeness.

"He does. He's a second year student."

I remembered what Mother had said before we left. He had a son, named Tamaki. Tamaki Suoh.

"Well, if you boys will follow me, I'll guide you to class."

Furukia and I looked at each other, green eyes gleaming, identical wicked grins spreading over our faces. This would be a fun game to play. How long could we keep this identity up?

We followed Mr. Suoh throught the wide corridors, stopping by a door. Inside, other kids were talking, messing around, and being usual teenagers.

"Here you are. I'll see you boys Thursday. Your mother and I have business to discuss, and when Tamaki heard her twins were coming to Japan, he insisted that you come and meet he and his friends."

"Alright, I guess we'll see you Thursday, then," I said, looking at Furukia. Her eyes told me she heard it, too. We really were being shown off, like trophies.

The chairman walked on through the halls, likely heading to his office. Furukia put her hand on the doorknob.

"Ready?" she asked me, aleady knowing the answer.

"Never."

She opened the door.


	3. The New Twins

The new boys had the same green eyes, the same black, American skater hairstyle, and really, the same everything. The only difference was that one had white tennis shoes, and one had black.

But Hikaru and I could tell they were different from each other. Just like we were different from each other. Until now, no one had seen that. Now we knew Haruhi.

The boys looked around the room without interest. I tapped Haruhi on the shoulder, and Hikaru said to her, "Look, Haruhi. The new students the boss mentioned are here. Another pair of twins."

Haruhi looked up from her book, and gave the boys a once over.

"They remind me of what people say you to used to be like. But they aren't from here. They look American. English, maybe. And they are about as comfortable here as I was when I first got here. Go easy on them, guys."

"You think they're commoners like you?"

"I think they were raised that way, and their family has recently become wealthy. Or their parents are the type that leave you to make a better living, while you stay with foster parents who can better take care of you. Then, when their parents became successful, they sent for them."

We looked at them thoughtfully. I wondered where they would sit. Would they stumble upon the club?

"Kaoru, why don't we go introduce ourselves? If they're like us, like Haruhi suggested, then we'll understand them better than anyone."

"Sure."

We started walking towards them, but the boys were moving. They went to the back of the room. The one with white tennis shoes leaned against the wall, crossing his arms. The other kneeled for a moment, pulling something out of his backpack, before standing beside him. He shoved one hand into the pocket of his hoodie while the other toyed with an MP3 player. The one with white tennis shoes put one earbud in his ear, and the other in his brother's.

Hikaru and I started making our way towards them again, but they both suddenly looked up at us. That glare chilled my bones. Hikaru and I stopped in our tracks. They seemed so cold and distant. More so than Hikaru and I ever were.

"They're more distant from others than we ever were," Hikaru muttered, echoing my thoughts.

"I think we should talk to them anyways. We should convince then to come to the club. Boss will have fun with this one."

"You mean, we'll have fun with this one," I corrected Hikaru.

We continued our original path to the new twins. Their gazes never left us. It seemed almost like they hated us without knowing us.

"What do you want?" the one holding the MP3 asked.

"To introduce ourselves. I'm Kaoru, and this is my brother, Hikaru."

"Is that all?"

"We wanted to invite you to visit our club after school," Hikaru continued.

"We're going home after school."

"Come on, please? We can promise it will be an entirely new experience."

The other boy whispered in the speaking one's ear. He smirked.

"Fine. We might as well give it a try."

"What are your names?" I asked.

"I'm Furukia. I'm older between us."

"Hikaru is older as well," I said, nodding my head at my brother.

"I'm Zakia."

It was the first words I'd heard the boy speak. I had a sudden gut feeling about club today. All was not as it seemed, and something was going to go wrong.

"Aren't those kind of girl names?" Hikaru asked. He meant no harm, he just didn't know the question could be seen as possibly offensive. Still, neither twin seemed affected.

"It depends on how you look at it," Furukia said.

The bell rang, and the new boys took two empty seats behind Haruhi, in the back row, scooting the desks right next to each other. Hikaru and I abandoned our usual seats on either side of Haruhi to sit on either side of the twins. I noticed with a start I was sitting next to Zakia.

Haruhi turned around when she noticed Hikaru and I weren't beside her. When she saw the boys right behind her, squeezing their two desks into one row, she smiled.

"Hi," she whispered. Then she noticed Hikaru and I on either side of them in our respective seats, and she smiled a little bigger.

"I hope the Hitachiins aren't giving you too much trouble."

"They haven't been too obnoxious, no," Furukia whispered back.

"Hey, Haruhi, you're a girl, right?" Zakia asked.

I looked over the twins' heads to Hikaru. Our faces mirrored each others', both of us in shock.

"I am, yeah. But don't go telling everybody my secret, okay? It's kind of fun, being a host and pretending."

"What's a host?"

"Oh, we have a Host Club here, to entertain girls."

The twins looked at each other, clearly unimpressed.

"It's fun, really," Haruhi said.

"I knew this rich kid school would be stupid," Zakia muttered.

"Most of the time, it is stupid. But the Host Club isn't really part of that," I whispered in his ear.

A blush covered his cheeks. Was he gay?

Zakia and Furukia edged closer together. They seemed unnerved by our closeness.

"Something wrong, Furukia?" Hikaru asked.

"Yeah. Zakia and I don't like other people. And if this club that you guys wanted to take us to is this Host Club, you can count us out."

When Hikaru and I pressed even closer to the twins, they glared at us. It was enough to have us back off some. They could look so mean.

When class ended, the twins were quick to get up and get out. Hikaru and I got a text from the Boss.

_New students. Get ready to meet up with us._

_They're in our class. We've already spoken with them._

_Where are they?_

_They said they were going home, but we don't think they will._

_Both of you get to the club._

Hikaru and I sighed simultaneously. Sure, the club was fun most of the time, but we wanted to hunt down the new twins and talk to them more one on one. Or, two on two, in our case. Still, we followed the Boss's orders.


	4. Music Room 3: The Host Club

What Zakia had whispered in my ear earlier was that if we went to their stupid club, we could try to cause some trouble. And the twins weren't quite so bad as we'd thought they'd be. Still, they didn't understand us.

We didn't like the thought of it being a Host Club, or that the twins seemed to want to make us uncomfortable, scooting as close as they did. When the bell rang, we did our best not to run out.

"Furukia, I don't want to go home. I hate it there even more than here."

"Yeah. At least here, there's some semblance of normalcy."

"Why don't we go find someplace quiet to hang out? We might even run into someone tolerable who isn't part of a Host Club."

"We probably wouldn't speak to them even if they were tolerable."

"True."

"But, I suppose if we can find somewhere decently quiet, we can hang out here for a little while."

We went to three different libraries, poked our heads in three different rooms, and wandered around hallways. Nowhere was quiet. When we were almost done trying to find someplace, we found a door, with a sign above it that read 'Music Room 3' and not a sound could be heard from behind it. It appeared we'd found the one place Ouran kids avoided.

I opened the door, and suddenly there were rose petals everywhere, and several male voices said, "Welcome."

Zakia and I shivered. Our day had just taken a wrong turn, but the path was closed behind us. There was no going back.

"Come in, come in. You must be new guests."

We walked into the room, and the door shut itself. This was also kind of freaky. Six boys, including the twins, and Haruhi stood in front of us. The twins seemed surprised by our presence. The others seemed unfazed.

"Ah, so it isn't just girls who seek affection."

A blush spread over both mine and Zakia's cheeks. This was the bad part about pretending to be boys. When you did something like this by mistake, people assumed you were gay.

"We were just looking for someplace to hang out," I said.

"Are you the new students here at Ouran?"

"Yes. We just started today."

"Look out!" a voice called.

Too late. A cart of things ran into Zakia and I. Drinks and sweets were spilled all over us. We must have looked like total wrecks now.

"Oh, my... Twins!"

"Yes, Boss?"

"Uniforms."

"Sure, Boss."

The twins picked my sister and I up and tugged us to some changing rooms. They stuffed uniforms in our arms and pulled the curtains. We quickly changed our pants, which were the most covered. We pulled off our hoodies and the short sleeve shirts we had underneath. We were about to put on the shirt, when the twins poked their heads in. Their eyes widened.

A blush spread over both our cheeks, and theirs.

"Sorry," they murmured. They quickly shut the curtain.

When we both had our new shirts on, we opened the curtain, stuffing our messy clothes in a tote bag the twins offered us. The blush still hadn't cooled on any of our cheeks.

"So, you're girls?" the one named Kaoru asked.

"Yeah," Zakia answered.

"And that's why you blushed when Kaoru whispered in your ear, and when the Boss assumed you two were gay?" Hikaru asked.

"Yes," I answered for us both.

"Now what?" both twins asked.

My sister and I shrugged.

"We should tell the others," Hikaru said.

"No, Hikaru. They should tell the others," Kaoru said.

"What if we don't tell at all?" I challenged. Our eyes narrowed.

The boys shrugged.

"What are your last names?" Zakia asked. At this point we were just killing time while our blushes faded.

"Hitachiin. You?" Kaoru asked, taking the offered conversation.

"Notoski."

"Twins! And...twins! You four, get out here!" a voice called.

All of our cheeks looked fairly normally colored now, so we went back to the rest of the club.

"Well, well. The uniform suits you both," a guy with blonde hair and purple eyes said. I recognized him as the one the twins called Boss, and the one who'd first addressed us upon entering the club.

"Thank you," we said in unison.

"Tamaki, who are the new boys?" a girl asked him.

"New hosts, I think. As soon as we figure out what type they are."

"Ooh, new hosts?" she said. She scurried off and started sprading the word around the club.

"Alright, hosts, we're having a meeting. And you two are coming, as well."

We were all pulled into the room the twins had taken us through before to get to the changing rooms. How much space did they have for this club?

"Now, we already have a pair of twins. They're trouble makers, and they use 'brotherly love' to enthrawl their customers. What can we do with a second pair of twins?"

"Well, they're not as cool as I am. At least, not in the same way. They aren't much like Honey, but they share some of the silent type of traits like Mori. Furukia's mannerisms tend to somewhat resemble Tamaki's, but Zakia speaks more like the twins. Both were known for causing more than enough trouble in their old school, but they're perfect straight A students. They moved around a lot between foster families from age eleven until coming here. We could try to push their secluded, lonely feelings, and their reliance on each other. Use it to our advantage," said a guy in glasses, with dark hair.

"No, Kyoya. I don't want to push them further into dependancy solely on each other."

"Well, does anyone else have any suggestions?"

"What if they were geeky boys?" a very small, young looking boy asked. He was holding a pink stuffed rabbit.

"No, Honey. It doesn't fit them."

"I have an idea," Kaoru said.

Everyone turned to him.

"What if they were just those kinds of boys that can play lines and stuff off each other to make a girl fall for one or both of them. Like, they're each other's wingman, type of thing. Except, they don't separate."

"What would we call that type?"

Kaoru shrugged.

"Siamese twins," a tall, dark haired guy. He'd been silent up to that point.

"Yes! Brilliant, Mori! Henceforth, you two are the Siamese twins!" Tamaki said, pointing a finger at my sister and I.

"Let's see how the clients like them," Tamaki said. "All you two have to do is what you normally would. Just direct it towards the girls, and lay it on a little thick."

We were pushed ahead of the others back into the main club room. Tamaki went to a corner and began talking to some girls. They seemed pretty dazzled at his use of excessive flattery. Mori and Honey were sitting at a table with a few other girls, Honey doing most of the entertaining, while Mori just used a brotherly affection for Honey when needed. The twins almost acted like they were in some kind of strange relationship, which was so weird, with them being brothers born on the same day. The girls swooned for it, though Zakia and I could see that it was an act. Kyoya seemed to disappear completely. He kind of creeped me out. Who knew what he was doing? Haruhi stayed by Zakia and I.

"Attention, ladies. The Host Club is proud to say they have two new hosts for you to enjoy your time with, Furukia and Zakia Notoski, the Siamese twins!" Tamaki announced.

Several of the girls clapped excitedly. Others just seemed curious. Others didn't seem to have any interest. I heard a lot of whispering.

Haruhi said a quick, "Good luck," before leaving us to entertain her own group of girls.

It was nice, knowing we weren't the only cross dressers here. Unfortunately, we didn't want to be here. It'd just been sort of thrown onto us by Tamaki. Tamaki Suoh, the chairman's son, the son of our mother's closest colleague.

Someone tapped on my shoulder. I turned to find a girl, a bit shorter than Zakia and me, standing there, smiling. I reached behind me, finding Zakia's arm and tugging her around to my side.

"Ah, hello. I'm Zakia, and this is my brother, Furukia. What's your name?"

"My name is Yuramei."

"Pleased to meet you," I said, offering her my hand.

She accepted it with a slight curtsey.

"Would you like to sit down?" I asked her.

"Oh, yes, thank you."

I led her to an empty sitting area, offering her a couch. Zakia and I sat on either side of her.

"What made you decide to visit with us so quickly?" Zakia asked. I knew what she was doing. She was searching for more of our assets, things to draw her and others in.

"Well, first I heard Tamaki say the two of you were twins. Then, when I saw you, you just had this look. You two are kind of a mix of all the other hosts, aren't you?"

"We like to think so," Zakia said with a teasing voice.

Yuramei had the sligest of blushes come across her cheeks.

"What kinds of things do you enjoy doing outside of class and the club?"

"I like reading, ballet, and horseback riding."

Zakia and I like reading, too. We've never riden a horse, though."

"To me it sounds like you're looking for a knight in shining armor. I'll bet you like medieval books, too," Zakia said, using a remarkable ability for insight that she had.

"You got me there," Yuramei said with a slightly nervous laugh.

"What's your favorite thing about the club?" I asked.

"I like talking to the hosts and getting to know their personalities. Even Kyoya."

Zakia and I looked at each other. We couldn't tell any of the girls that the personalities they knew of the hosts were simply projected images, often highly exaggerated.

"Who is your favorite host?"

"So far, I like Haruhi, but I'm starting to like you guys, too. You guys ar very entertaining, considering it's your first day."

"When you've known each other since birth, it doesn't take much training to figure out how to entertain a cute girl like yourself for a little while," Zakia explained.

Yuramei blushed very bright, very deep red.

"Y-y-you really think I'm c-cute?" she asked, stuttering.

"Your stutter is adorable," I added.

Her whole face was red now.

"So, how are we doing, Notoski twins?"

"Fine, Tamaki. It's easier and much more fun than we thought it would be."

"It's like traveling to another world," Zakia added.

_Well, Tamaki did say to lay it on thick._

"I wanted to let you know what rose colors you two would be. You see, each host has roses, specifically colored for that host. You can give them to your guests."

"I see. What color roses have you chosen for us?"

"Zakia, for your many sided personality, able to change from shy to daring in the blink of an eye, among many things, you get a black rose. The absence of color is like the absence of a single emotion that defines your personality. No one thing can hold you."

With a flourish, Tamaki handed her a black rose.

"And you, Furukia. For your older sibling overprotectiveness and ability to speak out for both of you, as well as a generally calm, in control, leader type aura, I give you a green rose. You're so full of life."

Tamaki gave me a green rose in a similar fashion to Zakia.

"And now, I bid you three to have a lovely time for another five minutes. The club will then be closing."

"So soon?"

"Afraid so. Enjoy your time with our new hosts, because they're already mostly booked for tomorrow."

"Could you book a slot for me as well?"

"Of course. I'll have Kyoya add it to the books immediately."

Tamaki finally left, and Zakia and I returned our attention to Yuramei. I held my rose out shyly. I'd always been a romantic at heart.

Yuramei took it with a smile.

"For being our first guest," Zakia said, holding her rose out with a nod and the slightest of bows.

Yuramei blushed, taking her rose as well and looking between us.

"Yes, I definitely like you two, as well."

Our five minutes were up. Yuramei gave us a small curtsey before following the other girls out.

The doors shut, and Zakia and I collapsed into the couch.

"So, how did the new hosts do today?" Hikaru asked, sitting on my side that wasn't occupied by Zakia.

"Yes, how are you, Zak?"

"Zak?" Zakia questioned.

"Yeah. I wanted to have a nickname for you."

She stood up, angry with the twins, now.

"No one gives me nicknames but Furukia, ok? Nobody! Never again!"

She walked away from a startled Kaoru in tears.

"What? What's the matter with giving her a nickname?"

"I'm the only one who's ever done that for her. We don't have friends, Kaoru. We can pretend, but we just don't have real friends. They leave almost as soon and as they come, and when they leave, it always hurts Zakia more and more."

"So, no one here is your friend?"

"Our own mother isn't our friend."

This shocked Hikaru as well. I got up and followed my twin, out the door, through several halls and down steps, and we got in our black and green limo. Tamaki really had picked the right rose colors.


	5. A Visit to the Notoskis

_Ouch._

They didn't even like their own mother? The one who had brought them to Japan from...where had Haruhi mentioned? England or America? Whichever they came from, it was pretty far away.

Then again, while they didn't seem to care for anyone but each other, they may have liked it back in their home country. Their accents were definitely cute.

"Hikaru, we should follow them."

"Follow them?"

"Yes. It's my fault Zakia got upset. I wasn't being very sensitive, making a nickname up for her the first day I met her. Especially after Kyoya told us that they lived with a bunch of foster families for four years."

"You were really paying attention that closely?"

"They're more like us than I think any of the four of us will ever know. At the same time, they're so different, and more unwilling to let anyone else in than we ever were. These girls are ice cold in a warm summer."

"That's a strange analogy to make."

"But accurate."

"True. They do give some cold looks and say some nasty things sometimes."

"So, will we go after them?"

"We'll see them tomorrow."

"Tomorrow may be too late."

I sighed. I knew Kaoru was right, by all of it. Really all I wanted was to go home and take a nap. The girls wanted us to be tripping over ourselves to serve them today, and that kind of acting gets exhausting quick.

I looked at Kaoru. He looked as tired as I was, but he still wanted to go after them. I sighed again.

"Alright, Kaoru. Let's go after the Notoski twins."

"Hitachiins, where are the other twins?" Tamaki asked.

We shrugged. We really didn't know where they were at the current moment.

"What have you two done now?"

"It was nothing they could have known about Tamaki. Kaoru gave Zakia a nickname, and I believe it brought up a bad memory for her. It was just too soon for it, that's all. Eventually, I think Zakia would actually come to enjoy the nickname," Haruhi said, smiling at us. The look in her eyes changed when her gaze returned to the Boss. She rally liked him, even if she didn't know it.

"What was Kaoru calling his cousin?" Tamaki asked.

"Zak," Kaoru answered.

In my mind this didn't make sense. Why would a girl like a name like that?

It also sounded like the Boss's family complex was acting up again.

"Kaoru and I have something to do before going home. We'll see you guys tomorrow."

"Be a bit early. Mori, Honey, and I will take care of clean up today."

"I will also help," Kyoya said from his seat at a table. He was typing away at his laptop and writing in his little black book. I would have sworn he wasn't there two seconds before he spoke.

Kaoru nodded before tugging me after him. We ran down to the blue and orange limo waiting for us. We simply told the driver to take us to the Notoski home, and he drove us there using GPS.

We stopped outside a castle. The black and green limo out front could only be Furukia and Zakia's. The large front doors were shut. The twin girls must have been inside. Kaoru and I walked up to the door, and we knocked.

"Who is it?" a gruff voice called.

"Hikaru and Kaoru Hitachiin. We go to school with the twins," Kaoru called.

"What do you want?"

"We need to speak with the twins, especially Zakia."

"What class are you in?"

"Class One A with the twins. Please, we don't mean to intrude, but we must speak with them."

"I will ask the young mistresses and their mother what they think."

Several minutes passed by before we heard the voice again.

"You may come in. Stay only as long as the twins wish you to. They do not actually know you are here yet, but their mother said you may enter."

The door opened. Kaoru and I walked through. I was sort of nervous now. What would Furukia and Zakia think of us just stopping by like this?

The first room we entered was very large. It reminded me of our house. If the twins grew up as commoners until now, then they'd certainly switched up life styles.

"Hikaru! And Kaoru!"

I looked up to see Furukia looking at us from the open view hallway above us. She seemed surprised, but a small smile played at her lips. Well, at least she seemed happy to see us.

Her twin appeared at the railing as well, and I could see her eyes were red and puffy. She glared at us.

"Zakia!" my brother called.

"I don't want to talk to either of you, Kaoru," she said, before turning and walking into a door. It slammed behind her.

"She was able to tell us apart from this distance?" Kaoru asked.

This surprised me as well. Not only was it that not many people could tell us apart, but she'd told us apart being ten feet over our heads. Perhaps it came from being part of a pair of twins as well. Or perhaps she and her sister saw us like Haruhi, separate, but inseparable.

"Can we come up?" I asked Furukia.

"I don't know if that's a good idea. Zakia is upset still, if you couldn't tell. What are you two even doing here?"

"I need to apologize to Zakia," Kaoru said simply.

"She's not going to listen to a word you say right now."

"Don't worry. We can be very persuasive," I said slyly, grinning.

"You're not getting anywhere near my sister with that attitude. You two being so cocky and sure of yourselves it what put you in this situation in the first place."

My grin dropped. Kaoru bowed to Furukia, looking at her from the tops of his eyes.

"Please, may I speak with Zakia?"

Furukia sighed and looked behind her at the door before turning back to us.

"Come up here, but don't come in yet. I have to convince Zakia to at least listen to what you have to say, even if she doesn't believe you or doesn't care."

Kaoru ran up the stairs and to left, stopping next to Furukia. I jogged after him.

"She may be unwilling to speak with you at all."

That was all she said before opening the door and closing it behind her.

"Do you think Furukia thinks of us as friends, or is it that she is just used to speaking for the both of them?"

"I think it's mostly because she knows that we're not likely to go away without talking to Zakia. She said before that she and Zakia don't have friends."

The door opened again, and Furukia stepped out. When the door shut, we heard a thump.

"So?"

"Let her finish getting out her frustration. She's really not happy that you two followed us home. That was her throwing a pillow at the door, by the way." Her voice was empty, flat.

"We thought tomorrow might be too late," Kaoru said, staring at the door behind her.

It opened behind Furukia, and the other twin stood there. She'd already changed out of her uniform. I didn't know what to make of the twins' style yet.

Zakia glared hatefully, but she thrust the door open wide. She turned and went back in the room. Furukia followed her. They took seats on the bed. Furukia leaned back on her hands, her legs crossed. Zakia sat close to the edge, one leg bent, the other dangling over the side and kicking. I took a seat in a chair next to some bookcases. Kaoru stayed standing, facing Zakia specifically.

"I want to apologize, Zakia. I wasn't thinking, and I didn't mean to upset you. It was a careless mistake."

Zakia looked away, glaring at a wall.

"My sister and I rely on each other and only each other for a reason. Back home, in England, people used to call us the Coldfire Twins. We iced others out to the point that when someone approaches us, our first instinct is to glare. If someone speaks to us our first instinct is to try and redicule them, or use their words against them. We were like a raging fire no one could fight because we were just that cold to people."

"So what's changed?"

"Nothing, it seems. We glared at you two when you first approached us. We tried to push you off and get you to leave us be. We were never intending on going to your club, unless we decided to go cause trouble. Then we stumbled across it ourselves and the cart spilled on us. You two gave us boy school uniforms, and Tamaki made us hosts. No one ever asked if we even wanted to be in your club. Then we thought entertaining that girl wasn't so bad. But we obviously don't fit here either."

"Says who?" I asked.

Zakia's glare focused on me, making me uncomfortable. There was something terrifying about these girls when they glared like that.

"Says us. You guys were using china and eating food from who knows where and drinking who knows what kind of tea. And that was just in your club. You may not have noticed, but during lunch we were outside, eating food we made here at home."

"No, at lunch the Boss had called a meeting about you two. He wanted to know what all we'd found out about you. Which was next to nothing, except what you look like," I clarified.

"Zakia, why do you hate the idea of a nickname?" Kaoru asked.

"I don't. But I only want people close to me, who really know me, to give me a nickname. There's only one person on this planet who's close to me and really knows me."

"If you never let anyone else in, how is anyone going to get to know you?"

"They won't get to know us anyway. They don't understand us. There's us, and there's them, and you're part of them."

"You remind us of ourselves. We used to be a lot like you. But if you don't give people the chance to even try, you're right. They won't ever understand you."

"What changed? You guys don't act that way now."

"First, we joined the Host Club. Then we met Haruhi, who can always tell us apart."

"We don't care if people can tell us apart. It doesn't matter. We're always together and we're practically the same. But people don't understand us. We can't trust anybody, and no one understands why," Furukia said.

"Why can't you?" I asked. This evening was getting very dragged out. If Kaoru didn't finish this soon, I wouldn't be able to carry myself down the stairs again.

"Because when we trust people, we get hurt. Our father left when we were born. We never knew him, but ot's one of those things where you're just thinking, you're one of two people who was supposed to be there for me, and you're not there. Our mother left us with foster families for four and a half years to come to Japan, supposedly to make a better life for the three of us. Really, she just didn't know what to do with us anymore. We were always home, and we didn't talk much because there wasn't anything for Zakia and me to say to her. So she left us, too."

"What about grandparents, or aunts and uncles?"

"As far as we know, we don't have any."

"So you've felt this alone all your lives, and you never tried to make any friends?" Kaoru asked.

"We did try. But as soon as they started trying to ask about our home life, we just shut them out. They'd asking things about us, and we just wouldn't know. We've never watched movies, or played videogames. We've never had soda, and we haven't ever gone to a party. We don't care much for skirts and we definitely hate dresses and heels, so we don't know any of the designers the girls talk about. We've never had a boyfriend, either of us. We've never even been on a date. And there's just so many things we haven't done, that people can ask us nearly anything, and we can't answer."

"Do you like roller coasters?"

"We've never ridden one."

"Favorite colors?"

"Zakia's is black, mine is purple."

"Do you like the beach or pool?"

"We've never gone swimming."

"How have the two of you experienced so little?" Kaoru and I asked.

"We had the really strict kind of foster families, and Zakia and I never asked for anything. We didn't want anything from them. They would only end up passing us off to a different family, anyways. We never liked any of them, and they could feel our distance."

Kaoru and I looked at each other. The Host Club had a new job. We would thaw these Notoski twins out, and they would experience the world. They would experience love outside of their little bubble. The twins wouldn't be alone anymore. It wouldn't be them and the world anymore.

I yawned. I'd lost the will to walk back down to the limo around the same time the Furukia had told us they'd never had soda before.

"Do you think we could stay here tonight? Hikaru is so tired he'd fall down the stairs as soon as walk down them."

"Stay here?"

"Not necessarily in this room, just here in your home."

The twins leaned back, both now propped on their elbows. They looked at each other, considering.

"Sure. You can sleep in Furukia's room. Neither of us uses it, really. We prefer sleeping together."

"So do we," Kaoru said. I could sort of see his smile.

The girls got up and led the way. Kaoru had to half carry me. A door two to the right of the room we'd been in was opened for us, and inside we found a room similar to the one we'd just been in. At first glance, they were identical. I knew if Kaoru and I took the time to really look at both rooms, we'd see several differences others wouldn't.

"We're going back to my room. There's a shower in there, and if you leave your uniforms out in the hall, Furukia and I will ask Melikishi to clean them. How do you clean the uniforms?"

"Cold wash, slow tumble dry, and make sure they're relatively unwrinkled. Give us a couple moments, and we'll have our uniforms out here."

The twins went back to Zakia's room. I could only assume Furukia was going to change out of her uniform and they would be back after.

Furukia was leaning against the railing when I came out to drop the uniforms. I ended up frozen, standing there in the doorway in only my boxers.

When Furukia's eyes really took in what she was seeing, her jaw dropped, and her face turned very red. I knew my own cheeks were brighttly colored, too, but I couldn't seem to bring myself to move.

"Hikaru, um, you can just give me your uniforms, and, um, I'll take them downstairs and stuff."

I came out and handed her mine and Kaoru's uniforms. I knew the both of us were only blushing harder.

She scurried down the hall, grabbing hers and her sister's uniforms as well from a neat little folded pile by their door, before all but running around the corner of the hall and downstairs. She walked into one of many doors.

When I lost sight of her, I ran back into her borrowed room. Kaoru was looking something up on our laptop, which he'd retrieved from our school bag. It's lucky that we'd brought it in with us, or we wouldn't have our laptop for him to use.

"What are you doing, Kaoru?"

"Trying to figure out what kind of tea Zakia and Furukia would like best, so we can serve it in the club. English people drink a lot of tea, don't they?" he asked, looking up at me. He noticed the bright blush on my face.

"Did something happen in the hall?"

"Furukia was already kind of waiting, and I just stood there like an idiot."

"Did she say anything?"

"No, she just blushed and acted really nervous."

"Well, we did accidently peek in on them changing. Now we've sort paid one of them the debt."

I put a hand up to my head and laughed. It's how I got past things. I just laughed it off.

"Now, what were you asking?"

"Do English people like tea?"

"I think that's what I've heard. But I don't know what the most popular kind is."

I laid in the bed, pulling up the covers. I noticed the sheets underneath the black comforter were light blue. Strange. Very strange...


	6. Doors

I couldn't believe Hikaru and Kaoru had the nerve to show up at our house our first day meeting them. And they were staying the night!

Furukia went to retrieve the Hitachiin twins' uniforms and take them down to Melikishi. We could have asked a servant but we wanted to do things as much on our own as possible. We didn't like having servants. People thought if you had others that served you, you were better than people, somehow. Furukia and I didn't see it that way. We were equal to those that our mother said were supposed to serve us.

The only reason we didn't start doing our own laundry is because as soon as we'd tried to put our filthy clothes we'd worn to school in the machine, Melikishi shooed us out. We made our bed that morning, but it was still kind of wrinkled. When we'd come home, it was picture perfect. And Furukia's things had strangely moved to her room.

Neither of us liked Mother trying to separate us. We knew she was trying to push in a small wedge, in hopes of opening a way into our hearts, or at the very least, into understanding. But we already knew it wouldn't work. No one understood. And our mother would never be able to open our hearts. Not after abandoning us.

When Furukia came back, she seemed a bit breathless.

"Something happen?"

"I just saw Hikaru in his boxers!"

My eyes widened.

"How did that happen?"

"I thought they would just open the door, stick an arm out, and drop the clothes in front of the door, but he actually came out. When he saw me he just kind of froze up. I told him to just hand me the clothes. Then, I grabbed our uniforms, and took them down to Melikishi."

"Did he say anything?"

"Not a word."

"Did he blush?" I asked, my voice teasing.

"Yes."

"Ooh!"

"Shut up! You know you think they're cute, too!"

"Maybe, but I still don't like them much."

"I know."

"Do you like them?"

"We've been alone all our lives, Zakia. These two at least seem different from the rest of them, even if they're not like us."

"But do you like them?"

"I'm not sure. I like that they persist in trying to approach us, no matter or how many times we shut them down."

"You like that they keep trying, even though we gave up a long time ago."

"That's a decent way of saying it, yes."

"How long do you think they'll keep this up?"

"Until we say stop, and leave. If we only say stop, they won't. If we only leave, they'll follow."

"Want to put that to the test?"

"Sure," Furukia said, smiling with me.

Tomorrow might be kind of fun.

The next morning, two of the school dresses were layed out on the seater chest at the foot of our bed. We ignored them.

We pulled the comforter over the orange sheets, and went in the bigger than necessary walk in closet. Hidden away, towards the back, were four boys uniforms. On top of them was a note from Melikishi.

I hid these in the closet for you girls. Figured you liked those silly, frilly dresses even less than I did. I can already tell what kind girls you are. I'm happy to be of service to you. And don't worry. I'll help you explain things to your mother about the boys. I'll also speak with her about trying to separate you two.

-Melikishi

"How did she know we wouldn't like the dresses and that we don't like Mother trying to separate us?"

"I don't know..."

"Zakia, Furkia! Breakfast! Hurry up and get dressed!"

We looked at each other, rolling our eyes. We changed out of our shorts and pajama tops and pulled on the school boys' uniform. We grabbed Kaoru's and Hikaru's uniforms as well, opening and closing the door quietly. We crept to Furukia's door and tapped lightly.

"Zakia, Furukia! Are you two awake up there?" our mother called.

"Yes, Mother!" Furukia said, turning and going to the railing of the open side of the hall.

The door opened in front of me. I quickly turned back around. Kaoru stood in front of me. And he was only wearing his boxers, along with a necklace I hadn't known he wore. It was an arrowhead, with three beads on either side. On both sides of all the beads were tiny knots, to keep them and the arrowhead in place.

When he saw me, he smiled softly and leaned against the door frame. He just thought he was so hot, didn't he? Well what happened when I didn't fall at his feet?

"I brought these back for you and Hikaru. I figured Furukia had enough trouble with you two last night. Boys in boxers don't bother me. It's the same as seeing you in swim trunks. Now, if you wore boxer briefs or briefs, then I might have some problems. But, in the meantime, here you go. We're eating breakfast. Be polite to our mother, and don't say a word until the fact that you two stayed the night blows over. By the way, nice necklace. Does your twincest have a matching one?" I asked, laughing inside.

I turned to walk away, but Kaoru put a hand on my shoulder, turning me back around. The look on his face was priceless. He couldn't believe I'd really just said that.

"You know Hikaru and I are only brothers, right? Close brothers, but only brothers."

"Is that supposed to prove something?" Oh yes, two could play at this flirting game. After all, that's what Hikaru and Kaoru were doing, to tease us, right? They were hosts though. Any feelings they appeared to have for a girl weren't real.

"I don't know. Is it?" he asked, an easy smile coming back as he relaxed again.

This only further proved what I was thinking. Treating a girl special was just an act. Even if they were cute and different from others, they wouldn't ever be a part of us. We'd seen too many acts. We stopped looking for actors and stopped going to plays after our third foster family. All in the analogical sense, of course.

"Only if you try to make it prove something."

That was the closest to honest as I would probably ever get with someone other than Furukia. His words would only prove something if he made them prove it.

I tried to leave again, and he stopped me again, stepping out to grab my arm and trapping me against the door frame with his body.

"This. Does this prove anything?"

"Not when you're a host," I said, managing to shove him off a couple steps.

"And if I wasn't a host?"

"Then I'd say stop trying to play me and my sister. The both of you."

My true point to playing the game now across, I walked away. Kaoru tried to stop me yet again but I shrugged him off. I joined my sister and we walked downstairs to greet our mother for the morning. We wouldn't see her until after school. But, we wouldn't be wandering into the Host Club by mistake again today. So we'd see her around talking on her phone until we went to bed. Then the routine would start again tomorrow, without the Hitachiins.

I wanted to ignore the Hitachiins for the rest of the year, so they'd get the message. There's us, and there's them, them being anyone but each other. And if they weren't us, we didn't get close. In fact, we pushed them away so we didn't have to deal with any more actresses like our mother. Or actors.

"I left the dresses for you. If you wanted uniforms you could have told me yesterday. Why are you wearing those?"

"Because we don't want to wear those stupid dresses, Mother. We got pulled into the Host Club, and pretty much everyone at school thinks we're boys. We're not going to correct them."

"Why, exactly, not?"

"Because we like playing this game. We're having fun. One day at a school in Japan and we're enjoying ourselves. Don't spoil this place for us like you spoiled England."

Our mother looked hurt.

"Good morning, Mrs. Notoski." Hikaru said from the top of the stairs. Strangely, for once, he was without his brother.

"Which Hitachiin are you? And why are you still here from last night?"

"Hikaru, ma'am. And my brother and I stayed the night because we didn't think we'd make it down the stairs."

"Where is your brother?"

"Coming. He's...trying to figure something out before school."

Furukia and I looked at each other. Her eyes clearly were asking what I'd done. I didn't answer.

"Mother, I forgot something in our room. I'll be right back."

"Are you two still insisting on sharing a room?"

"We don't want to be separated, and we don't understand why you keep trying to."

Mother was taken aback by my brash outburst, but roght now I didn't care. I ran upstairs to see what the missing Hitachiin was doing.

"Kaoru?"

"Kaoru's downstairs," Kaoru said from behind the door.

"No he's not. Hikaru is. Kaoru is hiding behind a door."

"I'm not hiding."

"Then what are you doing?"

"I'm...avoiding."

"Avoiding me?"

"Yes."

So he did know it was me.

"Look, if this is about what I said, you know I'm right."

"Do I?"

"Why do you even care what I think of you, Kaoru? You've known me for one day."

"I don't know. Because I see you, and for some reason, I'm filled with this curiosity to get to know you."

"Why? You're a host. You entertain girls every day. What could possibly be diffeent about me? How do I know this isn't just a game, a joke to you?"

The door opened. Kaoru still didn't have his shirt on, but he'd put on his pants. His necklace was still easy to see.

"Because for once, I'm not kidding around or pushing someone away. And I'm not going to give up this time, either."

"Give up?"

"I gave up on Haruhi for my brother. But I see now that Tamaki is a better choice for her, even if she doesn't see it. Despite that, I think I was supposed to give up on her. There's a saying. 'When one door closes, another one opens.' I think you're my new open door."

"Kaoru, here's some advice from me. Give up. Close the door. Becuase the only thing that lies behind it is a place for you to get lost and hurt."

"Why are you so scard of letting others in? Why won't you even give it a chance?"

"Because at one point, I opened a door. And I was going to walk in. But it was slammed in my face. I followed the road for miles, and I'm done having doors slammed in my face."

"I'm not slamming a door in your face. I'm inviting you in."

"Those are the more dangerous doors. If I go in one of those, I get comfortable, happy. Then I get shoved back out on the road. And I want to go back. But there is no backwards. This road is one-way, one trip."

"I'm not going to shove you out of my life," Kaoru said quietly, dropping the analogy.

"Can you promise that? Can you prove it will hold true until I die?"

"I can promise it will hold true until long after you're sick of me."

"I stopped believeing in promises before I was eleven."

"Then what can I do?" he asked, sounding defeated.

"That's my point. Nothing. There's nothing you can do. Close the door, before you accidently step out. This is a lonely road. And we walk alone."

"It's too late. I'm stepping though that door. Hikaru, too. We've made our choice. Whether you like it or not, eventually, you'll open up."

For the first time in my life, I was scared of something. Because now, if Kaoru and Hikaru did get hurt, it was on us. And I already knew. I didn't want Kaoru to get hurt.

"Why do you look so scared?"

I couldn't respond. For the second time, I ran away from Kaoru.

I was almost the door, but it shut. Kaoru stood against it. I heard the lock click.

"Why are you scared of me?"

I still couldn't force words through my throat.

"Why are you scared of me?!"

"Because we don't want to hurt you. And if we don't hurt you, we don't want you to hurt us."

"Zakia! Kaoru! We need to go now if we're going to make it to school on time!" Furukia called.

I panicked. I turned and grabbed Kaoru's shirt from the bed, which he and Hikaru had left carelessly unmade. I tossed his shirt at him and started making the bed. I heard the giant doors downstairs open, and I grabbed Kaoru's and Hikaru's shared bag. Furukia had ours.

"Here."

"Why'd you make the bed?"

"I'll explain at school."

He finally took his bag, opened the door, and allowed me through under his arm. Closing it behind us, we ran down the stairs to catch up with our other halves.

Outside, the Hitachiins limo was gone. I crawled into the limo, and the two furthest back seat were taken. Hikaru had stolen my seat by my sister.

I sat in the corner instead, and Kaoru sat next to me. Right next to me. Furukia shut the door, and our driver took us away. I scooted along the seat, until I was at the edge, Hikaru's legs to my right. Kaoru had moved with me and was directly to my left.

_Screw it._

I scooted again and fell on the floor of the limo at Hikaru's feet.

"Can you two stop it?!"

"I won't," Kaoru said.

"And I agree with his reasoning," Hikaru continued.

"So no," they both said.

Kaoru put his hands under my arms and lifted me up into the seat next to him. I crossed my arms and glared at the blank TV screen in front of us.

"This would be a lot easier if you stopped trying to keep us away," Kaoru murmured in my ear.

I controlled the blush that threatened to rise up.

"I don't want this to be easier for you. How do you not get it by now?"

"Because I don't want to get it. Damn it, Zakia! Why are you scared of me?"

"Because we don't trust anybody!"

"Why the hell not?!"

"Because we've been hurt too many times!"

"Stop yelling!" our siblings yelled at us. They both blushed and looked out their windows.

Kaoru sighed.

"I'm sorry Zakia. It just hurts that you think I'm determined to hurt you. That you think the world is determined to hurt you."

"The world doesn't like us. It does want to hurt us. And you. You're a host. Both of you are. How can we trust hosts?"

"How can we?"

"Because we didn't voluntarily join, even if it wasn't bad talking to Yuramei. But we can't keep this up for long. I have no crap and no drama tolerance. Furukia is the shyest person I've ever met. Yesterday was a fluke. And a mistake. We should have left. We shouldn't have let you two stay the night."

"I'm glad you did, because if you're going to insist on making me climb these walls you put around yourself the hard way, I'm going to need every advantage I can get."

"Furukia, why are you so okay with this?"

"Because it's time to stop being alone, Zakia. Like I told you, they're not going to quit anyways, so we may as well give them a chance. We're countries away from England, Zakia. Just give it a chance, okay?"

"No, not okay. I don't need another person to hurt me. Our own family doesn't want us, so why would anybody else?"

"We used to think that way. Our parents are always busy with work, and we thought everybody hated us until Tamaki asked us to join the Host Club. We made friends with the other hosts."

"It's not the same thing."

"Z-z, please?"

I looked at my sister. Her eyes were giving me the puppy dog look we both had, but neither of us had the ability to say no to when we gave that look to the other. I sighed, uncrossing my arms and relaxing just barely next to Kaoru.

"Fine. But only because of you, Furukia. Only because you're willing to try."

Furukia broke out in a smile, and it made me smile, too.

"There we go. There's the smile I've been waiting to see all morning," Kaoru said, poking my cheek.

The car stopped, and I shoved him at the same time. He toppled over in the seat, grinning like an idiot.

Furukia climbed out, and I crawled after her. The twins followed us inside and guided us to class One A.


	7. Tea and Roses

One day. I had this one shot at getting Zakia to open up to Hikaru and I. I couldn't waste it.

Haruhi seemed somewhat confused when we all showed up together. But she smiled anyways. My heart didn't speed up or skip like it used a few months ago. My crush was over.

"Hey, guys."

"Heyo," Zakia said, taking the seat she'd sat in yesterday.

"What's up?" Furukia asked, scooting her desk right next to Zakia's and plopping their bag on the floor between their legs.

"Not much. I was kind of wondering where Hikaru and Kaoru were since they're normally here not long after me. Did you guys share a limo this morning?"

"We shared a house last night," Zakia said, glaring over at me.

"Really?" Haruhi asked slowly.

"Yeah. We're all boys," Furukia said.

Haruhi got the message. Nothing had happened.

"Kaoru, this double talk is confusing," Hikaru told me quietly. We were still standing by the door. I was just shocked by the twins' response to Haruhi. They didn't bat an eye at talking to her. But if I so much as looked at Zakia, she glowered at me until I looked away.

"It's pretty simple, really. Zakia and Furukia told Haruhi we stayed the night, and she asked if anything happened. The twins said no," I said response to Hikaru's unasked question. "You've spent some time alone with Furukia. Does she treat you like Zakia does me?"

"No. She's really quiet and shy. We haven't really talked much."

"So why am I having so many problems with this girl? I'm a host, for crying out loud. Why can't I bring her closer? I just want to be friends."

"Just friends? Really? Kaoru, I know you better than that."

"If just friends is all I can get, just friends it will have to be. She doesn't even want to talk to me."

"Kaoru, Hikaru!" Zakia called.

"She's making the effort for a day. You've got to give her that. Don't waste it. We promised ourselves we wouldn't let them be alone anymore. Whether they like it or not, it's not them against the world anymore."

_She just thinks we're trying to play them. So, the first thing to do is show her I'm serious._

I followed Hikaru to where he was sitting next to Furukia. When Zakia looked up and saw me, she smiled.

_Now that. That makes my heart skip a little bit. Why do I already like her this much? She's right. I've known her for twenty four hours._

"Aren't you going to sit down?" she asked.

I sat stiffly in the chair that was pushed to the back of my legs.

"Kaoru, relax. I said I'm giving you a day, so I'm giving you a day. Don't make me regret it."

This was a whole other side of Zakia I'd never seen. Tamaki had been right in making her rose color black. How had he seen so much about her without even knowing her true gender?

"I'm sorry, it's just...so different from yesterday."

"Trust me. If you don 't blow today, you get tomorrow, too. Each day you don't hurt me, I give you the next day. So, if you what you said this morning is true, you'll be seeing me like this a lot more."

"Why are you so okay with talking Haruhi but not me?"

"Haruhi is just that person. It doesn't matter who you are, or what your past is, she's willing to talk."

"I've been trying to get you to talk. You don't want to talk to me."

"It's because I knew what they were without having to be told. You two just kind of stumbled in on them," Haruhi explained.

"We apologized for that!"

Zakia and Furukia just mirrored each others' tired expression. For Zakia in particular, it'd already been a long morning.

"You know, it's adorable when you blush," I whispered in Zakia's ear. Partially, it was just a tease, but it really was cute when she blushed.

"I think I said stop playing us, play boy. It's going to take more than whispered compliments that mean nothing to convince us," she said, even with a blush rising to her cheeks.

Furukia burst out laughing next to her and Hikaru grinned.

"Well, to convince me, anyways. Why has my sister been acting so weird the last few days. Normally we're thinking so in sync, we can be reading different books and be hearing what the other is reading in our mind."

"That's impossible, isn't it?"

"No, it's called, like, telekinesis, or telepathy, or something. It's actually fairly common between twins, but the development of the ability depends on how often and in what ways and at what distances you use it."

"It's telepathy."

"Look at you, all smart and stuff."

I blushed. I couldn't help it. My brother was the only one who'd ever commented on my mind, mostly when I came up with a particularly tricky plan or in front of clients at the club. No one had ever just said I was smart for something I just said or did. Just for being the way I really was.

Kyoya had noticed my maturity and intellect, but we rarely talked alone, with Tamaki and Hikaru always around. Honey tended to act as a kind of mentor to me, but he wouldn't understand my sudden feelings for a girl I'd just met. Hikaru had fallen for Haruhi almost on sight, so it was little surprise to me that he'd fallen for Zakia's sister so quickly.

Why was Furukia's sister so quick to leave her sister behind and be around my brother? Especially with as close of a relationship as they'd always had. Perhaps she was trying to force her sister to branch out some.

"What are you thinking about, Kaoru?"

"Nothing in particular," I said as a reflex. Only when Zakia's hurt look registered before she turned back to her sister did my head clear. It wasn't Hikaru who had asked, Hikaru who wouldn't understand. This was Zakia, who I had a day to try to convince to give me a chance at being her friend.

"Wait! I'm sorry. It's a reflex. Um..."

She looked at me with big, green eyes. I couldn't focus when she was looking at me...

I glanced at the clock. Class would start in five minutes, and then there was club. We wouldn't leave school until somewhere around seven. Wait, club.

"You're still coming to the club today, aren't you?"

The question seemed to catch her off guard. Behind that, there was dissapointment. She'd honestly wanted to know what my thoughts had been.

"Furukia may want to, but I don't. The last few days, it seems Furukia and I are growing apart, and I really don't know what to do. I feel like my last connection to everything is being cut slowly, and painfully."

"Like you're not yourself anymore. Like a part of you has been cut off."

"Kind of. Except, it's more like I've lost my arms. I feel like I can't do anything without her. I've always relied on her to help me through things. She's always spoken for me when I couldn't fine the words. The past few days, I've been trying to figure out what to say, but I just don't know."

"She may be feeling kind of lost, herself. You two have just moved here from England, and are living with your mother again. You've been pulled into the Host Club, which nothing easy to get used to, and your whole lives have been upended. She just needs things to calm down. You both do."

"With you and Hikaru around, I'm not sure things ever will," she said, looking wistfully at her sister, who was now in a very animated conversation with my brother and one of the frequent guests of the club.

"You want to get out of here?"

"What do you mean?"

Two minutes to the bell. After that, the teacher would be here in three minutes.

"Do you want to leave, go somewhere else?"

Zakia glanced around the crowded room, then again at our siblings. She sighed.

"The offer is nice, Kaoru, but I've known you for twenty-four hours. I really should barely know your name at this point. But I already know so much more. Not today. Give it a week or so. I want to at least see if things can calm down, and if my sister and I can get back to the way we used to be."

"I hope you aren't completely the way you used to be. This is hard enough without getting double teamed on."

The corners of her lips quirked up slightly, but that was all I got.

"Please come to the club? Give it another day?"

"No."

"Come on. You gave me another day. And you and your sister are going to be very good entertainers."

"How can you tell?"

"Because you can drive Hikaru and I speechless. So, will you?"

She thought for a moment.

"Fine."

The bell tolled. Too late to cut out and leave. But I'd gotten her to come to the club. That was a little more time for the day.

I pulled out notes for Hikaru and I, and Furukia gave Zakia hers. Peeking up at the teacher, I tore an extra peice out and jotted down a note to Zakia.

_What is England like?_

I folded it up and pushed it under my arm so it fell on her chair next to her free hand. She was left handed. She picked up the paper, also watching the teacher carefully before unfolding and reading it.

She turned the paper more towards her sister than me, so I couldn't see her reply. She folded it up and held it for a few moments while the teacher was facing us. When her back turned, she dropped it in my lap.

_All the buildings in London were made of bricks, and had turned brown from the waste from the factories. The sky was always a funny color from smog, and the crowds were enormous. People from all over the world, speaking all sorts of languages wandered the streets. But, I liked it the most when Furukia and I got away from London. We tried to go somewhere every weekend. Getting out of the city, we could see blue skies, white clouds, and feel warm sunshine during the day. At night, we could see billions of stars in a deep, black-blue sky, and a silver lined moon. When we were in London, at night we would ride our bikes when it was late and the streets were mostly quiet. It was strange, seeing the city so empty._

I hadn't expected a reply like that. It was pretty personal to her. I would treasure anything personal she would give me.

_Did or do you still drink a lot of tea?_

When she read this, it made her laugh.

"Something funny, Furukia Notoski?"

"I'm Zakia."

"Answer the question."

"Nothing, ma'am. Only something I was recalling about a story one of my foster parents once told me."

"What was this story about?"

"The Boston Tea Party."

"I see. As we will soon be discussing the event this unit, perhaps you'd like to write a paper about it for me?"

Zakia hesitated. I thought she may just tell her about the note, but instead she said something very surprising.

"I'm not very good at writing papers. But I could write it in a song for you. I could even play an instrument."

This seemed to surprise the teacher as well.

"That's an idea, young sir. An idea, indeed. All of you are to use one of your special talents to write your papers this unit. This is an experiment. Perhaps, if it goes well, we may not have to listen to so many essays most of you don't care about."

The whole class's gaze turned towards the five Host Club members in the back corner of the room.

Zakia and Furukia fidgeted, being in the spotlight. Then the whole class broke out in cheers. A couple of girls who were Hikaru's and I's regular customers noticed our closeness to the twins, and their gazes narrowed some. The girls always got so jealous of the hosts spending time with others, even if it was other hosts.

When the class settled again, Zakia handed me a note back. I also hadn't expected this. I thought she might be too embarrassed.

_Yes, Furukia and I both drink a lot of tea. It's a big part of English culture. We've heard it is part of Japanese formalities. Is that true?_

_Yes. Though we only use it for formalities or to give something a little more posh. Like we serve tea in the Host Club. Do you and Furukia have a favorite kind of tea?_

_We like plain tea fine, and we drink it with lunch a lot. In the mornings with breakfast, we like to have Moroccan Mint green tea. But my favorite flavored tea is Honeybush Vanilla herbal tea. It's more of a commoner's flavor, but it's the way I grew up._

_What's your favorite kind of plain tea?_

This was good. She wasn't referring to her sister as much. I was getting her to talk. And I was listening to just her, not to them.

_I like Dragonwell green tea._

_Have you really never tried soda?_

_No. None of our foster failies ever gave us any, and before that, we lived with our mother. We didn't have much money and couldn't afford extra things. She used to be a really fun person. But, I think we've lost the mother we once knew._

As the day wore on, we kept passing notes, but I learned nothing else. She was closing up again. By the time class was over, she was giving me the shortest answers she could manage.

_Note to self: avoid the topic of mother, or family in general. Sister only._

But, before, when the bell had rang for lunch, we'd eaten in the classroom. Hikaru and I had to go get our food, but Haruhi, Zakia, and Furukia had all brought lunches from home.

As soon as I had walked back in with my tray, Zakia had run up to me.

"Kaoru, you should try this. You were asking me about teas earlier, and this is my favorite plain tea."

"The..." I searched my mind, recalling the name of the tea. "The Dragonwell green tea?"

"Yeah." She smiled. She was glad I'd remembered.

She put a straw to my lips that was in her thermos, and I took a sip. The tea was still fairly warm, but pleasantly so. It had a cool, dewy type of flavor. It reminded me of the air in a forest after it had rained.

"That's really good."

"I know," she said, another smile lighting up her face. That smile was really cute...

"Could I try some?" Hikaru asked. She offered him the thermos as well. I could tell by his face he didn't care for it.

"It tastes like grass!"

She shrugged and sat by her sister again. I sat by her, stealing another sip of her tea before she could take a drink. She gave me a puzzled look, but shrugged it off and sipped her tea. She didn't even bother wiping the straw off. I didn't know if it was because she was used to people trying her drinks, or what. Maybe...

_No, Kaoru. Don't even finish that thought. No way. She's barely talking to you right now. You've known her for a day. Get a grip on yourself!_

My thoughts drifted away from tea and back to what I was supposed to be doing. My brother was saying something about a dream I'd once had. I'd never actually had the dream, it was just an act for the girls in front of us.

"Hikaru, I told you not to tell them that..." I said, frowning and blushing at my brother.

"I'm sorry. But it was just so cute when you told me about it..." he said, pulling me closer by my chin.

"I forgive you," I whispered.

This drove the girls nuts. Well, most of the girls. Haruhi was busy with her clients. But she'd always just found mine and Hikaru's act to be stupid. A little ways away, Zakia and Furukia were spinning a wild tale for their group of three. Something about ancient dragons and knights. But as I caught Zakia's eye, she rolled hers. She thought the acts were stupid, too. But, underneath that, I got the vague sense that she was irked with me again.

_Why can't I figure her out? She's right. I'm normally a player. This should be easy. But, it isn't._

When club hours had finally ended, Zakia seemed to keep herself busy, and Hikaru and I kept getting pulled over by Tamaki to help clean up. With nine of us, the work went quickly. We were done by five-thirty, an hour and a half faster than it had taken before Zakia, Furukia, and Haruhi joined us.

"Alright, I want everybody here for lunch tomorrow. We have some things to discuss."

After Tamaki had spoken, the door sounded. Hikaru and I turned. The twins were gone. We ran out after them. This day wasn't over yet, and I had a gift for Zakia.

Furukia was waiting outside by the door. So, she had left her sister for my brother, for the time being. Zakia must be more hurt now than ever.

I ran faster, easily getting ahead of the other two. I had a gut instinct telling me that Zakia wasn't leaving the school. She was trying a different escape method. Disappearing. I followed the directions my feet took me, not giving it a second thought. Something in me knew where to go.

When I came to the entrance to the gardens, I followed the mazes of hedges, trees, flowers, and shrubs along stone paths. When I came to a cliff, all I could do was stare. The view was breathtaking. Stars were beginning to shine overhead as the sun faded, and the moon rose. I took my phone out for a picture.

There was a sniffle, and a small hiccup before some coughing.

Turning to my right some, I saw a large, thick trunked tree with several low branches. One of them faced the cliff, and towards the end of the branch, was a fork. Sitting in the fork was Zakia, knees drawn up to her chest, arms resting over them. She was staring out over the earth and the beautiful horizon.

"Don't fall," I said.

She wasn't startled, so she'd heard me come up. How couldn't she? This place was so peaceful, and I'd been noisy.

"Did you just stumble up on this place?"

"I was trying to find someplace high and far away. This place is perfect for both. It was better when I was alone, though."

"Why is that? Isn't beauty more fun when it is shared?"

"I hate people seeing me cry. It makes me feel weak. Even in front of Furukia, I try not to cry. She weeps openly, but I never did. Not when our mother left, not when we moved. Not all the times we've changed homes, lost a friend, or a pet. I try to hide the pain these things bring. Instead, I use the pain as a defense, a shield. Something to put around me, so others don't want to come near."

"Why are you crying?"

"I don't want to talk about it," she said, turning her face further from me. Light from the fading sun caight the tears streaking down her face.

I carefully crawled up into the tree. She scooted so that she was facing the inside, sitting on the left of the fork. I sat on the right, our knees bumping each other's.

"Why did you follow me, Kaoru?"

"Because I wanted to make sure you're alright, and you're not. What's wrong?"

"Nothing."

"You wouldn't be crying then."

"I don't want to talk about it."

"It'll make you feel better."

"No, it won't."

"It's your sister, isn't it?" I asked, following the guess I had made earlier.

"Yes."

"What's wrong with your sister?"

"I was right. She really is pulling away from me. She stayed to wait for Hikaru, rather than come with me. She isn't acting like my sister. I feel so lost."

"Well, you've got me to hold you together, then."

She hiccuped and laughed at me. When she saw my expression, that just made her laugh harder.

"Furukia is the corny romance girl. Me, I don't believe in love like that. You can love your family, if they prove themselves. And that's about it."

"You don't believe in love?"

"Why should I? Most guys can't tell Furukia and I apart. Neither can most girls. All of our so called friends didn't know the first thing about us. Nobody except Furukia has proven herself, and I've proven myself to her. We love each other. But, I think I might have done something, because Furukia doesn't seem to love me anymore. And I'm all alone now. I've lost the only person I've ever cared about, and the world seems empty without her."

"I told you this morning. Just give youselves some time. I'm sure within a week, your sister will be speaking for you again," I said.

"Why do you sound so sad?"

"Because then I won't get to talk to you anymore. Not the real you. Not like we're talking now."

"Why do you care, Kaoru?"

"I don't know," I said honestly. I dropped my gaze to our touching knees and dangling feet.

I remembered one of the main reasons I hadn't wanted this day to be over yet.

"I have a present for you," I said, pulling the orange rose from it's safe place in my pocket.

"One of your roses?"

"Yes." I held it out to her.

"I won't accept it, Kaoru. Your club roses are as meaningless as your words in the Host Club are."

"Why?"

"Because I watch you and Hikaru give one to almost every girl that speaks with you at the club. Furukia and I each only gave out one rose, both to Yuramei."

"I'm sorry you feel that way. The Boss says to give them out freely to customers. He says it adds charm."

"It does, when you do it for the right reasons, in the right way."

"So, now, the only time I've ever done it for the right reasons, and in a right way, you won't accept my rose?"

"Not that rose. The club is completely artificial. I don't want my life to be artificial."

"Well, then you have to come with me."

"Now?"

"Right now."

"Where are we going?"

I didn't answer as I climbed down from the branch.

"Jump. I'll catch you."

She didn't seem to trust me, but she must have wanted the pleasure of the thrill coming down, because she jumped. I caught her, her hands on my shoulders and mine on her waist. I set her down slowly. She was about three inches shorter than Hikaru and I.

"Now what?" she whispered.

We could both sense we were balanced on a tightrope right now. We could fall either way, or we could keep the balance. For now, I wanted to keep the balance. I didn't want to fall alone.

"Come on!" I said, pulling her behind me by her arm. She ran a little faster, and dropped her hand into mine, instead.

I looked down at our hands. I slowed to a stop. Zakia blinked a couple of times, really registering the sight. Our fingers interlocked, palms together. We were holding hands. Zakia's hand was soft, but held mine surely. And her hands weren't soft like she used lotion, either. Just soft skin.

When my gaze reeturned to her face, Zakia was looking away, blushing. Her black hair blew around her face in a breeze.

"So, where are we going?" she asked quietly.

"Right. Come on."

She let go of my hand and just ran after me. I kind of missed her hand in mine.

I took her to my favorite part of the garden. Here, every host's rose color was present. Even Zakia and Furukia's, I noticed with happy surprise.

"Roses."

"Roses," I repeated.

I picked the most beautiful orange rose I could see. I'd dropped the one from the club back by the tree.

"Will you accept this rose?" I asked her.

She stared at the flower with those green, green eyes. Her hand slowly reached out and she took the rose. She put it in her hair, behind her ear.

"Thanks, Kaoru."

Zakia glanced around the roses for a moment. Then she picked a black one and put it in my jacket pocket, so the flower stuck out.

"There. I hope that's okay, even though you're a boy."

"It's fine," I said, looking up towards the sky, trying no to let her see me blush.

She smiled, and for some reason, my heart skipped a little. Why did I feel this way? How could I already feel this way?

"Kaoru!" Hikaru called.

"Zakia, Zakia, where are you?"

Zakia looked at me, a wicked grin brightening her eyes. She grabbed my hand and ran back the way we'd come, towards the cliff and the tree.

Now, with the sun down, the sky was completely filled with stars. It looked like if you were to jump off the cliff, you'd just fly away into space.

We crawled up the tree, going higher than before. But there was no need. Furukia and Hikaru didn't come out here, or even come in sight. The place Kaoru and I had found was our secret.

"Why are we hiding? I thought you wanted to block me out?"

"I do. Sort of. You earned tomorrow. But that's beside the point right now. I love playing tricks on my sister. Most of the times she wins, but with a Hitachiin on my side, I can't lose."

"Normally, I'm the mature one between Hikaru and I, but since you and Furukia got here, Hikaru has been pretty level headed."

"What's your point?"

"It's been a while since I acted truely childish just for fun."

"It's about time you got back into practice then, isn't it?" she said, her grin spreading.

It was intoxicating, and a grin spread across my face, as well.

"Zakia!"

"Kaoru!"

The calls faded and Zakia and I dropped back out of the tree. This time, she didn't jump and let me catch her.

We snuck back through the maze of the gardens and inside the school. We sprinted around until we came to the front doors, narrowly avoiding hitting Tamaki and Kyoya on the way.

"Where's the fire?" Tamaki asked.

"We're playing a trick on Furukia."

Tamaki's face was covered in confusion, probably from seeing one of each pair of twins together without their other halves.

"So, that makes you Hikaru," he guessed.

"Kaoru. Sorry, Boss. Wrong again."

Glancing at Kyoya before running after Zakia, I saw the smallest of smiles on his face. Why was he happy? He never smiled like that...

Suddenly, a new prank came to mind that Hikaru and I could never pull off. But, with Zakia and Furukia, we might be able to.

Zakia had climbed into her limo by the time I caught up.

"So, I earned another day?"

"You did. But you're not coming home with me."

"You can't tell me you didn't enjoy seeing me this morning."

"You're so full of yourself sometimes," she said, laughing.

Furukia and Hikaru found us like that, Zakia in her limo and me leaning on the door, my head in the window.

Hikaru pulled me out and I banged my head before he dragged me over to our own limo. I could hear Furukia ranting about how she and Hikaru had been looking for us for like an hour, and was angry that we'd been out here the whole time.

_We only just got here_. I laughed.

"What's so funny, Kaoru?" Hikaru asked.

As angry as my brother had faked being for Furukia, he was proud of me for having spent so much time with Zakia. We'd promise they wouldn't be alone, and with Zakia opening up to me, they weren't anymore.

"Nothing. Nothing at all."

"Did you have fun today?"

"Mostly. I apparently earned another day."

"You'll need it."

On our way home, I couldn't help reliving certain moments in my mind. The tea, her jumping out of the tree to let me catch her. Running around the gardens, holding hands. The roses.

I touched the beautiful, dark, waxy petals of the flower. I'd wear it tomorrow. Let the girls think what they wanted to think. Maybe I could convince Kaoru to wear a green one, and we can say we're wearing them to help the twins feel more welcome.

That night, I didn't say much as Hikaru and I fell asleep. I just wrote a small note to myself in my class notebook. It was a reminder to have Kyoya start ordering and serving some Zakia's and Furukia's favorite teas.

With that, I fell asleep. I had a brilliant dream. If I changed the girl in it, Hikaru and I could use it for one of our skits. But, for some reeason, I didn't want to tell Hikaru. I wanted to keep this dream, these feelings, this girl, to myself.


	8. Sisters Forever, Never Parting

When I gave up looking for Zakia in the gardens, I went out front to the limo. And what do you know, that's where she was, talking and laughing with Kaoru. Hikaru pulled Kaoru away, seemingly annoyed. I got in and sat next to my sister.

"Since when do you two get along?"

"Since I gave him a day."

"Did he earn another?"

"He did."

I then noticed the bright, fiery orange blossom in her hair.

"He gave you one of his club flowers!"

"No. He picked a rose for me from the gardens. I wouldn't accept the one from the club."

Zakia's behaviour was confusing me. She was spending a lot of time with Kaoru, and they'd just met. Zakia seemed to be breaking away from our safe little bubble, and the egg was empty and cold without her. I wished she would come back in.

"But you still accepted it."

"He practically begged. I couldn't say no to those amber eyes."

"Why not. He's not us. He's them."

"Well, what about you and Hikaru? What do you call that?" she asked, poking a blue rose in my pocket.

"He didn't give it to me. Tamaki suggested I wear it to help me get Hikaru's attention," I said with a frown.

"Why do you need to catch his attention? You seem to have it."

"We haven't really talked or anything. Not like you and Kaoru. I was hoping that the four of us could all start hanging out together if I could make some kind of connection with Hikaru."

"What do you mean, like me and Kaoru?"

"Oh, please. Anyone can tell he's liked you since he saw you. At least, anyone who knows you're a girl."

"And how did that idiot Tamaki find out?"

"Haruhi told him. They're dating, you know."

"I figured. When did she tell him?"

"After our first day of hosting yesterday."

"Which would make the only ones who don't know in the club Mori and Honey?"

"No. There's that Kyoya guy, too."

"I think he knew even before Haruhi, and Haruhi knew as soon as she saw us. I think Kyoya knew before we knew we were coming."

"Like some kind of stalker?"

"Sort of. I just think he knows everything about all of the hosts. He's one of those techy type of guys."

"One way to find out."

"Yup."

"You're asking," I yelled before she could.

"Why me?"

"Because he creeps me out."

"He does? But he's the most normal out of any of the hosts while at the club."

"No. I think we stole that title. We pretty much just act like ourselves, but friendly. Who we were when we had friends."

"I wanted to talk to you about that, actually. Did I do something or do you just not like being my sister anymore?"

"What? I was going to ask you the same thing."

"You were? But you're the one who kept wanting to hang out with the twins and stuff."

"Yes, but I wanted to do it together. The last couple of days you've been doing everything with Kaoru."

A smile spread across my sister's face, a mirror of my own.

"Sisters forever, never parting."

"Sisters forever, never parting," I repeated the line she'd spoke.

"We'll show them the real us, outside of club tomorrow. There's only us. Us and them."

"Are you sure you want to do that? You were just starting to get along with Kaoru."

"I'll stay with my sister."

"He's going to be persistent."

"We don't care."

"Nope."

When we got home, our mother stood in the grand hall, looking upset.

"Have we done something, Mother?" I asked.

"You insist on being boys so you can entertain girls at a Host Club?"

"No, we're being boys because it's fun to pretend."

"Well, I was just talking with Yuzuru, and he said that my twin boys were quick to join the club."

"Tamaki Suoh is in the club, along with the Hitachiin twins."

"Yes, I work with their mother."

"You said you wanted us to make friends and be normal. We're trying."

"Cross dressing is not normal."

"We're done with this conversation, Mother. We're going to our room."

"I still say you should have separate rooms. Your dependency on each other is too much. Can your sister even speak?"

"Why don't you ask me yourself?" Zakia asked. The flower in her hair made her feirce eyes stand out, and our matching black skater hairstyles framed her face, defining our slim, and somewhat angular identical features.

"So you do have a voice. See that you speak for yourself from now on. How do you feel about the things your sister has brought up?"

"The same as she does. She speaks for us both for a reason. There is no point in repeating what we've alreeady said."

"Why do you take her side?"

"Because it's how I feel, Mother."

"Why do you insist on calling me Mother? Why can't you call me Mommy or Momma like you used to?"

"Because you aren't our Mommy or Momma anymore. You abandoned us to government systems in England when we were eleven. As much success as you are having now, you could have sent for us long before this year. You only want to show us off, like trophies. I wouldn't be surprised if you send us back to England over the summer, since you won't have anyone to show us to," I said on our behalf.

Our mother was completely bewildered. Shocked. We hurried past her and up the stairs to our room. When we got there, we found Melikishi sitting on our bed.

"Hello, twins. I just wanted to let you know, I saw these at the market today, and they made me think of you."

On the bed were two outfits. One was a white tee shirt with black pants. The other was a black tank top with a pair of white boy's basketball shorts.

"The white shirt is for Furukia, and the black one is for Zakia. Unfortunately, I can't tell you two apart yet."

Zakia and I ran to our only friend in the house and hugged her. We couldn't help it. This kind, older woman was perfect. We loved her.

"We'll wear them on weekends, when we don't have to worry about pretending to be boys."

"I'm glad you like them," she said, giving us a squeeze.

"Could you bring our dinner up here for us? And eat with us? We can eat at the table in there," said, pointing at the room that branched off from our bedroom. There was actually a total of four rooms that made up our bedroom.

"Of course, if that's what you want. I'll be up here with a meal in about half an hour. Then you both need to get some sleep. You have another long day tomorrow, and a longer day Thursday."

"Don't remind us," Zakia said with a groan.

"Maybe I can sneak you and your friends somewhere. At least somewhere where you won't be under the eye of your mother."

"Just make sure the gardens are looking nice. We can convince our mother to let us eat out there easily. After that, we can go pretty much anywhere."

"Of course."

Melikishi went back downstairs to fetch some food. To kill half an hour, I played games on our laptop, and Zakia messed with our cell phone, which had no contacts whatsoever. The only thing on it really was a couple of pictures of us an of London, and an extensive Grooveshark account, with five playlists and somewhere around eight hundred songs, currently.

"Hey, Foo, did you know we have, like, thirty pictures? That's it. Why do we never want to remember things?"

I smiled at the nickname. "I would imagine that with so few experiences, there hasn't been much for us to remember."

"I want to start taking more pictures. I want more things to remember. I want to experience new things."

"We can start now. Come here."

I took a picture of us holding the blue and orange roses. Zakia's had more meaning than mine, but it was still cool.

"Let's take one of the limo, and the front of the house from outside."

We raced downstairs, much to the surprise of our mother. All she could do was watch us go. We took those pictures and raced back inside.

"I like this. I like this a lot. It will be nice to have the memories. And we still have some from London."

We flipped through all the old photos together. Several were just the streets of London at night and pretty horizons. There were a few of me and Zakia in a truck turned into a temporary clubhouse, inside, out, under, and in the bed. Others were of us at the pet adoption agency, although after our turtle got crushed from being run over, we hadn't had anymore pets. There was one of our turtle, Winston. There were a couple of the tourist sights in London. And there was one of our mother and us, at our old summer house. We used to go to the cabin every summer. It used to belong to our grandparents, and the mortgage had been payed off, so it didn't cost much to keep it. Every summer we went to Ryde and stayed in our cabin.

"We should go there again. We have the money now, we can go whenever we want," Zakia said.

"Just us?"

"Just us. I don't want to spoil any of the memories there. I know it's got five rooms and all, but it should just be us. This is our place. Our place alone, now."

I nodded.

The door opened and Melikishi came in with three trays of food. She took it in the tea room and we followed her in. There were eight small tables in the room, four in the center with four chairs each, and four around the edge of the room, with two chairs each.

Melikishi set the food on the table with four chairs in the back left, and we sat to eat.

"It's delicious, Melikishi. Thank you. It was just what we needed," I said. The macaroni and cheese was perfect, and the delicious little dumplings that were next to them went well with it, even dipped in the cheese.

"I'm glad you like it. Now eat up."

We did. When we'd finished, Melikishi told us to change and get into bed.

"First, can we take a picture with you?" Zakia blurted.

"I'd be delighted."

We took a picture with the window behind us. Even Melikishi's slightly wrinkled face and greying brown hair looked young again with the stars behind us. Zakia and I looked very young, about twelve, but we didn't mind. We didn't mind being children to be taken care of for Melikishi.

"Alright, now off to bed."

We scrambled under the covers and Melikishi tucked us in. Neither Zakia, or I had trouble falling asleep. We didn't even hear the door shut.

* * *

Author's Note

Thanks for the support guys, especially one princess-snow510, who I enjoy the overkill reviews of. Thanks for the laughs!

If you guys have comments or ideas, please let me know.


	9. A Game Called Love

While Kaoru slept, I was restless. Not wanting to wake him, I got out of bed and walked out into the hall. I paced in front of our door, trying to get my thoughts to settle. I couldn't get her out of my head.

Furukia was driving me mad. She rarely spoke to me directly, and she was so shy. She was adorable and a big time romantic. Today I'd seen her wearing one of my club roses in her pocket, though no one else saw.

I didn't understand what kind of pull Zakia had on my brother, but whatever it was, he was definitely too busy to have noticed. Zakia seemed to be the only one unaware of his feelings for her. I wasn't entirely sure Kaoru acknowledged his feelings, but he knew there was something between them.

Whatever Zakia did, Furukia almost seemed to be the total opposite in some cases. The effect on me was the same. I couldn't get her out of my head, and I'd been trying to get her to notice me, but she seemed like she could care less. Like Zakia on the first day.

I finally couldn't take it anymore. It was eleven. Maybe Kyoya was still awake. If not, I was really going to regret this tomorrow. I grabbed Kaoru's and my phone and dialed a number.

Kyoya picked up on the third ring.

"There had better be a good reason for this, Hitachiin. I was almost asleep."

"Do you know the Notoski's phone number?"

"The Notoski twins? No, I don't. If you two don't have it, what makes you think I would?"

"Come on, Kyoya."

"In all seriousness, I know little more than you do about the Notoski twins. I'm not even sure if they actually have a cell phone. Those girls are very mysterious."

"You knew they were girls before they even set foot in the school, didn't you?"

"Yes. Though, there was little I could do to stop Tamaki once he got going. You know how he is."

"Yeah. So, no phone number?"

"No. Try to refrain from calling me past ten again."

"Never, Kyoya," I said before hanging up, a mischievous grin staying on my face even as I lay down to try to sleep once again.

"Hikaru. Hikaru, get up."

I cracked open an eye to see Kaoru. I stuck my tongue out at him.

"Don't make me have Nina get the water bucket."

I all but ran from the bed. I'd had the water bucket more times than I liked. I wasn't in a rush to repeat it this morning.

I put on my uniform, grabbed an apple muffin for breakfast, and followed Kaoru out to the car. He'd grabbed an actual green apple.

I was still tired and dozed in the car. I ate my muffin pretty quickly as we walked to our class. Opening the door revealed Haruhi, and the rest of the normal people in class One A. There were no Notoski twins in sight.

"Haruhi!" I called. She looked up from her book and smiled.

"Hey, guys. Kaoru, you look a little glum. Everything all right?"

"Yeah. I just have a bad feeling about today."

He wasn't the only one. I sensed it, too.

We took our new self assigned seats on either side of the twins desks.

"Have you seen the twins today, Haruhi?" I asked.

"No. I'm sure they'll be here soon. They were here after you guys on the first day, too."

"Maybe," Kaoru said. He stood and walked to the window, stuffing his hands in his pockets. I followed, mimicking him.

"Think we came on too strong? Scared them off?"

"Naw. Not from school, anyways. They might not want to talk to us or come to club, though."

The thought saddened me. We're trying to get them to open up, not close themselves off.

We felt their presence more than heard the twins enter class. They didn't say a word to anyone, even Haruhi.

"So, day two?" Kaoru asked Zakia.

"Sisters forever, never parting."

Kaoru frowned. My face mirrored his. What kind of answer was that?

"Furukia, come here a second?" I asked. She barely spared me a glance and shake of her head.

A deep cold was beginning to settle over the room. The icey twins were spreading a cold fire.

Zakia slid an earbud into her own and her sister's ear. Kaoru and I sat next to them. I passed Furukia a note.

_Are you okay? What's up?_

She didn't anything back.

What had made the twins so cold again? I was scared to touch Furukia for fear she would burn me with so much wintery indifference.

I tried giving her a note again as the bell rang.

This time, I recieved a four worded reply.

_Sisters forever, never parting._

It was exactly what Zakia had said when Kaoru asked if it was day two.

_What does that mean?_

_It's Zakia and I._

I didn't try sending another note. I knew I wouldn't get an answer. This was one time when the third time wasn't the charm.

Kaoru touched a flower in Zakia's pocket. An orange rose. She flinched away. A blue rose was in Furukia's pocket, just like yesterday. Why were the twins wearing roses in our colors but avoiding us?

The first half of class continued this way, until the bell rang for lunch.

"We'll be right back," Kaoru said. This elicited no response from either twin.

When we returned, Haruhi and the twins were gone.

"Zakia? Furukia?" Kaoru asked.

"Haruhi?" I called.

None of the cross dressing hosts answered.

We looked into a closet door, and suddenly we were shoved in from behind, the door closing and locking before we could see who had put us in here.

"I know a way in," one twin said. "And I know a way out," said the other. We couldn't tell which twin said what, because the closet was dark. That, at least, answered who had pushed us in.

"Or, I know a way out," one said, "and I know a way in," said the other.

So they both knew a way back into the classroom, or a way out. But out to where?

"You must choose a twin," one of them continued, "and you must choose the way in or out," the other said.

"What kind of puzzle is this?" I asked.

"You must figure it out for yourself.

"The only hint we give is that we find opposites are a lot of fun."

"One more thing. You can't choose either of us by name. Only by taking our hand and saying you choose us," they chorused. "And you have until the bell rings again to decide, or we play the game again tomorrow."

I heard someone slapping their hands against the wall. I guessed it was Kaoru. So he had an idea about the game. I didn't get it.

"Hello," one of the Notoski girls said.

"Goodbye," my brother said. Did he already know how to tell the twins apart that well? That he could so it in the dark?

"Hello," I could only assume the other said.

"I choose you."

"In, or out?" whichever of the twins asked.

"In."

If I'd worked this part out, this meant going back in to class, or going somewhere. Why had Kaoru picked class?

I picked my way across the room and was about to move a little further, but my hand touched skin. Fingers, an arm. Picturing our uniforms, I felt across her shoulders, then tried to poke the blue rose in her pocket. There it was.

I grabbed her hand in mine and whispered, "I choose you."

"In, or out?" she asked. I could hear her smile.

"How about out?"

"Very well." Now her voice was kind of sad. So, I was missing something. There was a symbolic meaning to this game, but I didn't know what it meant.

"I don't know the symbolic meaning, if that's what you're thinking about. I didn't figure that out."

"Oh," was all she said.

Then she was tapping on wood. When the door opened, I saw the classroom. So the opposites thing had been hinting at where we were going. What did the in and out itself symbolize?

I didn't get to find out. Haruhi shut and locked the door behind us.

"What about Kaoru and Zakia?"

"Don't worry. They'll be safe. But, if I were you, I'd use this time to talk to Furukia."

I turned back to the twin in the empty classroom with me. She had a mischievous smile even as the look in her eyes seemed sad.

"What's going on?"

"It's a game, Hikaru. Zakia and I call it Love. All players go in a dark closet, and the girls do exactly what Zakia and I just did, doing their best to cause confusion but making sure the riddles are clear. I can't tell you the meanings of the riddles in case we play again. But then, the people on the outside of the doors open it for secret knocks. Each answer leads a different way."

"Well, obviously the first part was picking a girl. I did that. The second part is something symbolic in the choosing of in or out. And now is the third part, where we end up together."

"The symbolic part is the most important. The puzzle doesn't make sense without that piece. I don't know if Kaoru figured out the puzzle, or just guessed."

"Is there a good and bad choice?"

"Not really."

"Then why do your eyes look sad?"

"Because for now I've lost at Love. But it's okay. I didn't expect to win. Today was for Zakia's benefit."

"What did you lose?"

"Nothing I can't get back."

"Then why is it so bad if you lose at Love?"

"Because you never know when the next game will come by."

This game was not just a game. Not really. We were talking about real love here, but what did that mean for Kaoru and Zakia?

I would have to ask Kaoru when he got back, because the bell rang, and Furukia wasn't responding to me in any way again.

By the time we headed for club, I was remembering that we were supposed to meet with the club for lunch. Well, at least there were five us who missed, not just Kaoru and I.

Kaoru and Zakia still hadn't returned, nor were they anywhere in the club. I'd looked.

I was still looking when the first girl arrived. They were the only ones missing, but that made us down both twin packages. Furukia and I hid in the branch off room together, so that nothing would look weird. If one of each of the twins was gone, it might as well be all of us.


	10. Players and First Kiss

"What made you pick inside?"

"Because I want to be inside your walls. Inside your heart," Kaoru said.

"That's so cheesy!" I said, unable to keep away a grin. "How'd you know it was me?"

"Your hand. You two may be identical looking, but Furukia's fingers don't fit in mine the same way yours do."

"You are so cheesy. Why don't you ever act like this around your brother?"

"With other people, I'm always putting on some kind of act. But, with you, I feel like i don't have to do that. Like I can just be myself."

"How do I know this is the real you?"

"Because I'm telling you exactly what I'm thinking."

"How do I know that?"

"Because...right now, I'm thinking how there's no one in this dark closet but the two of us right now, and that I'm really nervous, but I still want...something."

"Something being?"

"Nothing that I should do when you don't like me. And nothing I should do especially when I've only known you for two days."

"What makes you say I don't like you?"

"That's what you and your sister are trying to prove today, isn't it?"

I laughed. I couldn't help it.

"Would you like to know the name of the game we just played?"

"Sure."

"Furukia and I created the game to mess with people, but other kids started to like it. So, we became pretty well known for it back in our school in London."

"What is it called?"

"Furukia and I call it Love."

"We just played Love?"

"Well, Furukia and I set it up, but you and Hikaru played Love."

"And what does that mean?"

"Well, there's this quote I've seen, on this one site, called Tumblr. It's popular in America and England."

"Another quote?"

"You used the first one."

"Yeah, I guess I did. So, what's the second?"

"I heard you're a player, so let's play a game. Let's sweet talk, let's play fight, let's talk twenty-four seven. Let's tell each other good morning and good night every day. Let's take walks together, let's give each other nicknames. Let's hang with each others' friends, and go on dates. Let's stay on the phone and talk all night long, hold each other, and kiss and hug. And who ever falls in love first? Loses."

"Hikaru and I played Love, but what is it you and I are playing?"

"I call it Players. I started the game based off the quote. Furukia doesn't care much for it. She's a big romantic, and prefers one relationship forever. You know, that bull crap."

"You really don't believe in love, do you?"

"Guys are only after one thing. They're all the same. They either get it, or realize they can't geti t, and they leave."

"Not all guys are like that."

"I've never met one that isn't. Sure, these last couple days with you haven't been too bad, but two days isn't love. Two days is lucky enough to be a crush. Really, two days is aquaintances, in my opinion. No, I don't believe in love. I've never seen it, and I've never had any proof of it."

"Movies? TV? Videogames? Everybody around you believes in it. So why don't you?"

"I believe Furukia and I explained that we haven't seen any movies, or TV shows, or played videogames. And love is for saps. It doesn't exist. But that is the only warm part of my sister that exists. Otherwise, she's just as cold as I am."

"So you know you do it."

"We do it on purpose. Part of it is just the way we are, and the other part is not wanting others around us."

"Why? Why don't you believe in love, and why don't you want others around you?"

"We've been hurt too many times. Abandoned, left behind, excluded. So, eventually, we just stopped caring. We pushed everyone out, so they couldn't hurt us anymore. We push you guys out, so you can't hurt us."

"Why do you tell me all this stuff if you're trying to push us away?"

"Because I was playing Players with you from the moment I met you. You just learned of the game."

"Why do you do this to yourself then?"

"Because I've never lost. I've never loved anyone but my sister. I used to love my mother, but she abandoned us. I've never even missed a boy who's left me. And eventually, all boys leave me. I've played Players countless times. Most boys don't even bother to fall, because they only wanted one thing."

"Alright."

"Alright, what?"

"I'll play your games with you. As of now, we're both playing Players."

"And you will see. I won't lose."

"But does that really mean you win?"

I stayed silent, thinking about that.

"In my mind, it does. It's just another confirmation that I'm right. That no one will ever really care about me but my sister."

"Why are we sitting in this dark closet?"

"Right. Well, come on. Take my hand. I'll lead the way."

"You're the only one who knows the way," he said, his hand finding mine, and our fingers interlacing.

_I might not believe in love. And these corny things may be stupid because love doesn't exist, but they're still kind of cute sometimes. Like the way my hand fits into his._

I knocked a secret on the door and it opened.

"Furukia. Nice of you to finally knock. I was wondering if something had happened to you or your sister," Tamaki said upon opening the door.

"Um, Tamaki, I'm Zakia."

"Really? I was certain I'd gotten it right that time. Well, that must mean you are Hikaru?"

"No, Boss. Kaoru. And that's both pairs of twins you have now failed to distinguish."

"Well, I am sorry for that, Zakia."

"It's my understanding that Haruhi told you our secret?" I asked.

"She did. It's nice to think she will have cross dresser friends at the Host Club. But that is not what this game is about. This game is about love."

"Actually, we finished that game. Or, stopped playing, really. That game doesn't suit me as well as it does Furukia. Instead, we're playing Players. But we can still go where we were going to go."

"Is this still classified as a first date?"

"It was never a date to begin with!"

"It wasn't?"

"No! For one thing, we aren't dating, and second, guys are supposed to plan the dates. I'm tired of planning them."

"Then you wouldn't mind if I took this over once we get outside?" Kaoru asked.

"Depends. What do you have in mind?"

"A surprise. Tamaki, would you mind leading us your secret way out I apparently don't know about?"

"You have to put a blindfold on. You don't need anymore ways in and out of this building."

"Who would've though that the Boss was a bit of a trouble maker too?"

"How did you think Haruhi and I were seeing each other without being found out by anyone, including other hosts?"

Kaoru didn't answer. Part of me wondered briefly if he still liked Haruhi. For some reason, the thought made me jealous.

Pushing the thoughts aside, I put the blindfold Tamaki offered around Kaoru's head, making sure it covered his eyes.

Then I took his hand again and lead him after Tamaki. Tamaki opened another door, and suddenly there was sunlight on my face.

"Should I expect either of you or your counterparts at the club today?" Tamaki asked, not stepping outside after us.

"Not us. And I doubt Furukia and Hikaru will show, either," Kaoru answered. I didn't know. I didn't know what his plans for us were.

"Then goodbye, and I will see you both again tomorrow. No more free days."

"Okay, Boss," Kaoru said with sarcasm. It seemed it was frequent that he and Hikaru skipped out of class, but not club. Yet, they still had perfect grades. Explain that.

The door closed quietly, and I lead Kaoru down some steps and across part of the gardens. They looked different in the light.

When Kaoru tripped, I fell with him. He landed underneath me, catching me with his hands on my hips.

"I suppose this counts as holding each other?" he said in a teasing tone, even as a blush colored his cheeks.

"I suppose it is. At least it's nice to know you take the game seriously," I said, smirking while he couldn't see it.

Then I reached up and pulled away the blindfold. He blinked into the sunlight, before his eyes focused on mine. Amber eyes, orange hair, and a certain knack for getting me to say things I probably shouldn't to him.

"You want to know what I was thinking about in the closet that ai shouldn't have been?" he asked me quietly.

"What?" I whispered.

"How your lips look so kissable every time I see you, and I've been aching to kiss you since I saw you, even while I was under the impression you were a boy. I didn't completely think you were a boy, but even if you were, I wouldn't have cared."

"You wouldn't have?"

"No. I'd still have had to have gotten at least one kiss, eventually. But now that I know you're a girl, the temptation is that much sweeter, and that much harder to resist."

"Remember, part of Players is kissing," I said, trailing off as I stared into his eyes. His face moved slowly closer.

"Then you won't mind if I steal one now."

He pressed his lips to mine. They were soft, warm, inviting. He tasted like green tea and chocolate, which was actually really good.

My eyelids fluttered closed as Kaoru pressed a little closer. My hands reached up and tangled in his hair, and I could feel a smile tugging at the corners of his lips.

I melted. Just for a moment, I let my slick, ice covered walls melt, and I let Kaoru climb over.

Then, I pushed Kaoru back into the grass, got up, and ran to the limo.


	11. I Like You Too Much

When Zakia took the blindfold off, all I could do was stare and blink. She looked like an angel, surrounded by a bright aura of light in the sun. When I got past how beautiful she looked, even wearing the boy's uniform, I couldn't stop myself from blurting out about what I'd been thinking about in the closet.

When my lips finally met hers, she tasted like honey and vanilla. Her favorite tea, Honeybush Vanilla herbal.

I pressed a little closer, wanting a little more of her, and for a moment, those walls around her heart dropped. I saw just her. Her vulnerability, her pain, her hope. I smiled a little, happy that she was there, opening up to me.

Then, she closed up just as quickly, shoving me back in the grass, getting up, and running. Running where to, I didn't know. All I knew was that I had to follow.

I scrambled up and chased after her. When she got in Hikaru and I's limo, I was surprised, but kind of happy. Of course, she could have very well been trying to just get away.

I gave a note to the driver through the window so Zakia wouldn't know where we were going, and crawled in back after her.

"Zakia-"

"Don't say anything right now, Kaoru."

"Have you changed your mind? Do you not want to go, after all?"

"I'll go."

"What's wrong, Zakia?"

"Nothing."

"Then cheer up. I'm about to take you on an adventure."

"Is this part of the game, or no?"

"This is a date."

"A date? You're officially turning this into a date?"

"Yes. And you have no choice but to come along because it's part of the game."

"Fine."

"Fine."

The limo began moving, and we were off.

"Why aren't the other Host Club members trying as hard as you and Hikaru to get close to us?"

"Well, Haruhi doesn't have to do much to get you two to talk to her. Tamaki has his priorities on Haruhi, but by the weekend, he'll be trying, too. Kyoya doesn't get really close to any of the hosts, he just kind of ends up being your friend. Honey and Mori will be trying within a week."

"What about you and Kyoya? How did you two end up just kind of being friends?"

"He asked me a question about the club, and after he heard my answer, he seemed kind of surprised. After that, we talked more often and it just kind of happened."

She didn't say anything else. I took this to mean it was my turn to ask something.

"Zakia, about...about the kiss."

"It's part of the game, isn't it? I told you that."

"I know what you said it was, but was that really what it felt like to you? Or did it feel like something more?"

"Kaoru, don't tell me you've lost or quit the game already. Especially if you've lost. Even if I did believe in love, love doesn't happen in two days."

"Ever heard of love at first sight?"

"That's even more preposterous than the idea of love itself."

"You didn't answer my question."

"I can't give you an answer. I have nothing to compare it to. That was my first kiss."

"It was?"

"Yes. I told you, boys always leave me."

"You didn't hate it, did you?"

"No. It was fine, Kaoru."

_Fine? Just fine? She hated it. She hates me. I screwed up, bad._

"You know, maybe if we did it again, I could tell you if I feel anything special."

"If you kiss the same person, how will you know?"

"If I feel anything special for you, I'll feel it in my heart. Because right now, there's only my sister in my heart."

"Okay."

I didn't want to kiss her in the limo, though. I wanted it to be a good moment.

"Kaoru?"

"Not here. Later, when we get there."

"Where are we going?"

"It's a surprise."

"Of course it is."

"Don't like surprises?"

"I don't mind them. It's just that most surprises are disappointments. Except you. You were a surprise. I didn't expect to end up talking to you, or to even look at you, really. I definitely didn't expect to find that I actually kind of like you. And the kiss was definitely a surprise."

"I can't tell if this is all good or bad."

"Good. You haven't disappointed me at all. I don't even know what to expect with you."

I smirked.

"Before we actually go anywhere, did you want to change?"

"Yes. I'd rather not be dragged back to school."

"Good, because we're at your house."

The car stopped with my words.

"How am I going to get in? I don't know if my mother is home."

"I think I figured out why you made the bed. You don't like bossing others around. You feel that you are equals with your servants, not superior. Which means, you probably have a servant that you like in your house."

"I do, but that's not the point. I'm no better than any of the servants. I'm not above them in any way. If I were to treat them badly and not ackowledge that they are human, I'd be lower than them. Much lower. I'd be trash."

"I see. Well, this special servant friend of yours, perhaps she can help you?"

"Yes. I know where the servants' entrance is. What about you? Are you going to change?"

"Yes. I should be back in about twenty minutes. Is that enough time for you?"

"Fine."

"Fine?"

"Yes, fine. Now, get going. It probably won't take me long."

I smirked at her and left. When I got home, I went inside without a care. Most of the staff and any of my family that may have been home wouldn't be surprised by my early return from school. I went up to Hikaru and I's room and dug around in the closet.

Actually looking at this stuff, I didn't know what to wear. I wanted to impress Zakia, but I wanted to be myself. Should I wear something kind of like a commoner would wear, or something chic and new? What color? What would Zakia like?

I finally decided on black basketball shorts, an orange vest over a black cotton long-sleeved tee shirt, and a pair of black and orange basketball shoes. It looked alright, and I was comfortable. I got back in the limo and went to go get Zakia. It was cool enough outside that wearing long sleeves didn't bug me.

"You know they're cleaning up at the club by now, right?" Zakia asked me when I opened the door for her.

I couldn't answer. I was too busy staring. Zakia was wearing a hot black tanktop, loose grey pants, and black tennis shoes with white designs. A green bandana tied her hair back out of her face, and she had a rainbow bandana tied on her arm as a wrist band.

"Wow," I breathed.

"Do I look okay?" she asked, nervously tucking a loose piece of hair into the bandana.

"Great! You look amazing," I said, my voice catching.

She blushed and crawled in. Nice for me, but possibly somewhat unfortunate for her. I was sitting in the seat closest to the door she was crawling in, so she had to crawl right over my lap.

When she'd sat down, I closed the door, and we were moving again. Zakia stared out the window.

"You like music, right?"

"Yeah. Furukia has our MP3 and headphones, though."

"I've got Hikaru's and mine."

She seemed slightly uneasy of the device I pulled out of my pocket.

"What kind of music do you listen to?"

"Just give it a try," I said, offering her an earbud.

"Fine," she said, taking it.

"Fine," I said, smiling at her.

She glared at me for a moment before her eyes dropped to take a look at my clothes.

"You look…" she turned away, but not before I caught her blush again.

"I look?"

"You look really hot," she mumbled.

My whole face lit up with a smile. I'd managed to impress her, and I was comfortable.

"Shut up. Just play the music," she muttered.

I did as she asked and searched the MP3 for a specific song I wanted her to hear. There it was, Bewitched by Blood on the Dance Floor.

"This song describes you for me perfectly."

As the song came on, she started bobbing her head and tapping her foot.

"You're living in hell?"

"When you keep trying to push me away, yeah."

"And I'm a little witch?"

"Yes. And all the other things the song says."

"What else do you have?"

The next song was Welcome to Mystery by the Plain White T's. I let it play.

_Why are there so many American songs here?_

"You like songs in English better than Japanese or something?"

"Well, if you haven't noticed, even though I can read and speak Japanese, my preferred language is English."

"I've noticed that about this school. Is everything weird here?"

"Not quite," I said as the car stopped again.

"Where are we?"

I gestured to the door as the driver opened it for us.

Zakia peeked out past me, and her eyes widened. Her jaw dropped, and she would have fallen over in her shock if I hadn't put my arm around her to steady her.

"What do you think?"

"What is it?"

"It's an amusement park, called Scream."

"Scream? For a date? Wow. I'm surprised you didn't bring me to some cheesy knock off of an amusement park, made for couples."

"You don't believe in love. Besides, I figured you're the type of girl who would enjoy this place much more."

"I just can't believe you brought me to an amusement park. Isn't it expensive? I mean, that's how it was in England. That's why our foster families never took us."

"You really haven't gotten your head around the fact that you're rich and going to a private school now, have you?"

"No."

"Well, you don't have to worry about money. I'm paying anyways."

"You are?"

"It's a date, isn't it? And a gentleman always pays for his girl-...er…his company."

"Company? You're so strange, Kaoru. And really different without others around."

"Well, I was going to say something else, but thought better of it. And like I told you, I don't feel like I have to pretend, here with you."

"What makes me different then? Why am I so special?"

"Well, for one thing, you can tell Hikaru and I apart at a glance. For another, you are different. Special. Not very long ago, for a short time I thought I loved Haruhi. But I find myself realising now, that wasn't love. That was little more than a crush."

"Kaoru, if you tell me you've lost this game already, you really are a player, and I will slap you. And never speak to you again."

_I wouldn't mind the slap so much, but I do care what she thinks about me. And I definitely don't want her to stop talking to me._

"How long do you think you could hold that up?" I asked in a teasing tone, deciding to play it off as smooth.

Zakia rolled her eyes and shoved me towards the open door of the limo.

"Just get out of the car."

I raised my arms in surrender and got out. She followed, the driver closing the door behind her.

"Shall I wait here young sir, or will you call for me to pick you up?"

"Take the rest of the night off. Go enjoy yourself."

The driver was surprised, but quickly hid his expression under a mask of calm.

"Of course, sir."

"How are we going to get home?" Zakia asked.

"I'm sure your sister or one of the others will come looking for us. If they aren't already trying to track us down."

"So we should enjoy our time while we have it?"

"Yes. I don't know if anyone knows where we are, but it probably won't take Kyoya long to figure it out, with his tech skills. Come on!"

I grabbed her hand, our fingers interlocking, and dragged her after me to the gate. I got us each an unlimited wristband, and let go of Zakia's hand to put my arm around her as I guided her inside.

"Any idea what kind of ride you'd like to ride first?"

"I've never ridden any rides or anything. What's your favorite?"

_My favorite? I've never been asked my favorite. Everyone always asks both Hikaru's and my favorite, our favorite ride together. Or, around the other hosts, Tamaki tends to dictate._

"How about something simple? We'll save my favorite for later."

"Ok."

"Let's ride the merry-go-round."

We waited in line together. Being nearly seven, it was getting kind of dark.

The lights flicked on, and the way Zakia's face lit up, it put them to shame. She was so happy here. Here with me.

Zakia scooted a little closer under my arm. What had been a two inch gap between our bodies except for my arm on her shoulders was now a very slim space paper would have trouble getting through.

On the ride, Zakia seemed happy enough, looking out at the crowds and the lit up grounds. Every once in a while she'd turn her head to look at me and smile.

When we got off, I asked her, "What'd you think?"

"It was nice seeing everything, but kind of boring."

"That's not seeing everything. But I can take you on a ride that will let you."

Zakia just looked kind of confused as I put my arm around her again and took her to the Ferris wheel.

When it was our turn, we went up, up, and away. Zakia looked dazzled by the sights of all the rides and the lights. When we stopped to start getting off, we were working our way around again, around the middle of a side. We still had a decent view, and it smelled like cotton candy and funnel cake.

"What's that smell? It's delicious."

"I'll show you when we get off."

"When does the park close?"

"Not until late. It's one of those parks that lets you ride until around midnight. If it weren't for school tomorrow, we could stay until they closed."

"I might skip school tomorrow just so we can stay here all night."

"I can't let you do that. Tomorrow is Thursday, and we have that dinner thing that you're hosting."

She sighed next to me.

"What?" I asked.

"I'm just thinking about all the tortures I'll have to face tomorrow."

"Like?"

"My mother, for one thing. Furukia have been trying to stay outside of the house. It's part of the reason we stumbled in on the club. Plus, we'll be expected to wear dresses, and that's going to be yet another long argument about our refusal to cooperate."

"It'll be okay."

"How do you know? You haven't met my mother. Or spent enough time with me to know."

"My mom works with yours. And I know because if something isn't okay, you and Furukia will make it okay."

"What if we can't though?"

"Then you have Hikaru, me, and the rest of the club to help you."

We were almost to the top now, and Zakia leaned against me. I tightened my arm around her some.

"Thank you, Kaoru."

I stared at the top of her head for a moment. I shifted and she sat up again. I turned her towards me.

"What is it?" she asked. I could hear her voice catch in her throat.

"You said you wanted to try again and make sure, right?" I asked, my voice a little husky.

She didn't ask for me to explain what I was talking about or ask why now and not earlier. She closed her eyes. With the lights of the park glowing around us, the good smells in the air and the quiet from being so high up from everything, I leaned towards Zakia again.

Just before our lips met, I closed my eyes. Her lips were soft, like rose petals, and she still tasted like honey and vanilla. Sitting in the very top spot of the Ferris wheel, I kissed her again.

And just for the record, I definitely felt something.

Zakia didn't break the kiss, so I put my free hand against her face, keeping her close. My other hand was already gently pressed against the back of her head. I touched my tongue to her lips, and it was like everything she had was put into the kiss. The last thing I felt before she pulled away was a sense of burning desire, and lots of confusion.

I leaned my forehead against hers, breathing heavily.

"Bloody hell," Zakia muttered.

I grinned at the cute accent and infamous phrase.

"Is that good or bad?"

"Both? Good, because I figured out my feelings for you. And it was a really amazing kiss. Better than earlier. Bad, because of what the answer is."

"What's the answer?" I asked, closing my eyes against the nerves.

"I like you more than I should. Somehow, you squeezed yourself into my heart in two days, Kaoru."

"What's tha-"

She smashed her lips to mine, cutting off what I'd been about to ask. I deepened the kiss again, and she let me.

We were almost to the bottom now, so I pulled away, feeling a clinging sense of desire, like before.

When we got off, Zakia seemed distracted by the sights and sounds around her.

"Now what?" I asked her.

"Now I want you to show me a couple of reasons this place is called Scream," she said, grinning as the sound of visitors screaming reached our ears again.

An easy smile covered my face, and I took her hand and led the way. Even so, I was thinking about the Ferris wheel, and how I was really hoping for another kiss before the night ended.


	12. We Bond as a Group

After a couple of tense moments sitting there, silent except for the noise coming from the club, Hikaru slowly put an arm around me. I froze, my entire body rigid. Our bodies were pressed close in the window seat already, and Hikaru hadn't shown any signs he liked me the way Kaoru liked Zakia. At least, he hadn't until now.

"Furukia?"

"Yes?' I whispered.

"Do you want to go somewhere with me?"

"Like?"

"Like a date."

My head turned, and my eyes went straight to his. He was dead serious.

"Yes!"

A smile from him stole my breath away as he led me out a different door from the club and out of the academy.

We climbed in Zakia and I's limo since he and Kaoru's had been taken by them.

"Okay, you're killing me here. You seemed excited when I asked, but now you're all quiet and reclusive again. You're driving me crazy! I just can't figure you out," Hikaru said, sounding rather confused.

"You'll find my sister and I are both very mysterious."

"No kidding," Hikaru muttered.

_What is he thinking of?_

"Where are we going?"

"A place I'm not entirely sure you'll like," he admitted, putting a hand to the back of his neck.

"Will we be there a long time?"

"I figured the rest of the night."

"Can we stop at my house first then, so I can change?"

"Yeah, sure."

When I came back out to the car in blue capris, a green shirt, and the same blue rose, in my hair now, I found Hikaru had changed while I was inside.

"Wow…" I breathed.

He was wearing casual black slacks with a nice, crisply ironed white shirt. I had to laugh when my eyes fell on his black and blue basketball shoes.

Hikaru blushed and looked sheepish as he handed me into the limo. He shut my door and got in on the other side.

When the car stopped again, Hikaru jumped out and came around to open my door before I'd gotten my seatbelt off. I smiled at the sweet gesture before looking at where we were.

We were at an amusement park called Scream. I wondered why Hikaru had brought me here of all places, then thought of my sister for the millionth time since she and Kaoru had left. I wasn't being fair to Hikaru, always thinking of her even though this was my chance to make a connection.

"Why are we here?"

"A surprise. Come on," he said, grabbing my hand and dragging me after him into the park. His eyes roamed the crowd. I glanced behind us once. Another limo had pulled up behind us.

"I think we've been followed."

Hikaru muttered something before he started running, tugging me along behind. We stopped, panting, next to the exit for a roller coaster.

"That was fun!" a familiar voice called from the stairs leading down to where we were. "I've never had quite this much fun here before."

"It's official. I love roller coasters!" That voice I knew. It was my own, exactly identical. I turned and looked up. There they were, laughing and smiling as they came down.

Zakia's gaze turned down, and landed on me. She squealed and jumped the last five stairs to the ground, before running to m and squeezing me half to death. We fell back in the dirt, more laughter echoing from both of us.

"Hikaru? Furukia? What are you guys doing here?"

"Furukia missed her sister. I figured Zakia probably missed hers, too, and I was pretty sure where you went. So, I brought Furukia here to find you guys."

"Thank you so much, Hikaru! It was totally sweet. And it was a complete surprise."

"Thanks, Hikaru. I was missing my sister. Now we can all go on rides together."

"Sure. What do you want to go on next?"

"Furukia has to try a roller coaster! What's one we haven't been on yet?"

"There's the Firecracker, Tumbler, and Zombie Attack."

"Which one is the most mild?"

"Firecracker. You want to go on that one?"

"Yeah!"

Zakia grabbed my hand in her right, Kaoru's in her left, and let Kaoru lead us through the park.

The Firecracker may have been more mild than the other two, but it was still one of the wildest roller coasters in the park. When I came off, my hair was everywhere but flat and my eyes were watery from the wind in my face.

"Let's go n Zombie Attack next," Zakia said, coming off the ride looking completely normal.

Hikaru and Kaoru also didn't seem to be affected in any negative manners.

Kaoru put his arm around Zakia and guided us a few rides over from the Firecracker. When it was our turn, and I saw the seats, I almost wanted to chicken out. But I put on my brave face and sat in one of the seats, my feet dangling. Hikaru sat on my right, Zakia on my left, and Kaoru on her left. We were in the first car.

We dodged, tumbled, climbed over and ducked under so many 'zombies' that I had more than enough time to stare down at the ground that was so far away. Then, with a duck, I was scared my feet would touch the ground.

I got off that one with wobbly legs, but Zakia wanted to continue on to the only roller coaster she hadn't ridden yet. The Tumbler sounded like that worst of them all.

I was right. I would've sworn we were upside down for half the ride, and completely sideways the other half. I was feeling queasy at the bottom of the stairs.

"Are you okay, Furukia? You don't look so good."

"I have an idea. Let's go get some Funnel Cake. That can cheer anyone up," Kaoru recommended.

"Yeah," Hikaru agreed heartily, and the boys led the way. Zakia helped me keep my feet and guided me along.

"You really don't look so good. Are you going to be okay?"

"Can we go home soon?"

"If you really want."

"Can we play a game before we go?"

"Of course. Right after we have Funnel Cake."

I was right about us being fallowed. While Hikaru and Kaoru got the Funnel Cake, Zakia and I were sitting at an outdoor table, just minding our own business. Then there was another table and five more teenagers with us. Tamaki Suoh had brought the entire rest of the Host Club with him.

Hikaru and Kaoru's faces when they came back and saw the other hosts were priceless. I managed to snap a picture with our phone. They were something of a mix between furious, annoyed, shocked, and wanting to bolt.

"Boss. What are you doing here?" they asked simultaneously, each taking their respective places by me or Zakia.

"Well, you've been hogging the Siamese twins all to yourselves, and we haven't gotten to talk to them at all," Tamaki said.

"I think I'll go get a water. Anyone else want one?" Kyoya asked after a moment.

"That would be wonderful, Kyoya," Tamaki replied.

Kyoya got up and went to the line. Zakia whispered in Kaoru's ear for a moment before getting up and following Kyoya. She'd probably gone to ask him our question.

"Furukia, come back!"

"I'm right here, Tamaki," I corrected him quietly.

"Well, tell your brother to come back."

"He's just accompanying Kyoya, Boss. He didn't want him to feel lonely," Kaoru spoke up.

Tamaki looked questioningly over at Kyoya, who had just burst out laughing. Tamaki looked surprised by this.

"Well, alright. I suppose we can just talk to you for a moment. So, how have your first days been?"

"Weird. For both of us."

"Who's your favorite person in the school so far?"

"The Hitachiins."

Tamaki exploded on the twins.

"You won them over that easily? How could you trick them like that? They are your fellow hosts! You should treat them with respect. You should be gentlemen. So why are you using your skills to get their attention and treat them like a guest?"

The twins looked bored. Still waiting in line, I could hear Zakia and Kyoya laughing. Mori stayed silent. Honey tugged at Tamaki's pants.

"Yes, Honey?"

"Please stop yelling at the Hitachiins. You're making Furukia uncomfortable, and I think he feels like you're yelling at him, too."

Tamaki's look of surprise was followed by him sitting under the table, curled in a ball, having a fit. Zakia and Kyoya burst out laughing so hard they both tumbled to the floor. They just couldn't contain themselves. Kaoru and Hikaru were soon to follow. I couldn't help a giggle. The sight of Tamaki whimpering under the table was just too much. Sure, I felt bad, but I couldn't contain it. Mori cracked a grin. Honey just stared at the rest of us, his childish mind not understanding why Tamaki's actions were so funny. It wasn't until I heard a snort that I realized Haruhi was on the floor in tears from laughing so hard.

"You all laugh at me? We will see about this! We'll see what happens when I ridicule all of you in public."

Now the twins tumbled to the floor, and Mori was truly laughing. Kyoya and Zakia, who'd been supporting each other to get up, dropped back to the floor. Tamaki marched away from the table, getting lost in the crowd.

Kyoya and Zakia finally made it through the line and back to the table. Zakia still busted out in giggles occasionally, but she was reeling it in. Kyoya was calm and his face was straight. It was like he'd never cracked a smile. Mori still sat smiling next to Honey. Honey was eating his own mini Funnel Cake. The twins were back in their seats, Kaoru whispering in Zakia's ear, Hikaru sharing music with me. Kyoya sat next to Tamaki's empty seat. I caught a small grin on his face when he glanced at the chair. Haruhi climbed back into her chair next to me, on the other side of Tamaki's empty spot.

We all enjoyed the Funnel Cake. Honey and Zakia in particular liked it. Haruhi left first, off to find Tamaki. Honey and Mori followed, Mori carrying Honey on his shoulders. The twins, my sister, and I, were about to leave when Kyoya spoke quietly.

"Would you mind terribly if I joined the four of you? I'd rather not be by myself for the moment, and I don't want to go chasing after Tamaki."

"Isn't he your best friend?" I asked.

"He is, but I'm not going to follow him while he's acting the fool."

"We'd be happy to have you along. You're a fellow host, afterall. And who wants to be alone?" Zakia invited.

"Thank you for your kindness, Zakia."

Our eyes widened in surprise, but then Zakia and I remembered we were wearing different outfits for the current time. As were the Hitachiins, but that didn't seem to stop Tamaki from failing to tell us apart.

The five of us set out for the games, like Zakia had promised me. Hikaru won a fishing game and gave me a giant teddy bear. I got him a new set of headphones by playing ring toss. He was happy about that, because his old ones were about to break. Kyoya did one of the those strength testers, and gave Zakia a black and blue sock monkey, which she loved. Zakia won darts twice in a row, and gave Kaoru the two concert tickets she won the first time, and Kyoya the thing she won the second time. I didn't see what it was, but it was small, because Kyoya pocketed it, smiling at her.

Kaoru, on the other hand, couldn't seem to win any of the games he played. He tried punching rubber ducks. He tried throwing a baseball at wooden bottles, and throwing coconuts at a target to dunk a person. He tried throwing a football through a tire swing. He just couldn't get it. Finally, we stumbled on a shooting hoops game.

"Hey Kaoru, turn around," Hikaru said.

"Hey! This should be easy!" Kaoru enthused.

Kaoru scored forty-six hoops in three minutes, the top score for the day. The hoop was about eight feet off the ground, and five feet back from where you stood to shoot. Kaoru was a good basketball player.

He gave Zakia the dog he won. Zakia loved dogs. I was more of a cat person. Felines were less drool and less activity. They'd curl up on your lap while you read a book.

With Kaoru on one side of her, the two of them laughing at how there was only one sport he'd ever be good at, and Kyoya on her other side, smiling softly, I held up our phone and snapped a picture. It was a perfect moment.

"Hey! Kyoya, twins, Notoskis. We found you!"

I turned my head to the voice, and heard Hikaru mutter mournfully next to me, "Tamaki. He always seems to come at inconvenient times."

"What were you all planning on doing next?" Tamaki asked, seemingly unaffected by Kyoya and the twins annoyed looks and my own and Zakia's cold stares.

"I wanted to play this one game, but I don't know if you all will want to play it…" Zakia intoned.

"Well, we can at least all look at it. Those who don't want to play will wait for you."

Zakia looked around at everybody else. Her gaze fell on me last, and I smiled in reassurance.

"Okay. Come on!"

She wandered through the park, until she stopped in front of a large, plain building, with a black door. On the door, a purple double-u shone. A sign next to the steps leading to the door read:

_You must find a key to unlock the door. One key for every two people. Only two people can enter the door at a time, and the next two people won't see the first two in front of them. Have fun and enjoy playing The Lucky Key._

"There's nine of us, so at least one of us is going to have to sit out," Kyoya commented.

"Or we could play the game multiple times, and just do different pairings," Zakia suggested.

"Yes. I like that idea. But if a person only wants to go once, they only have to go once," he said. His glasses glinted for a moment.

"First thing is first. We have to find four keys," I reminded.

"Haruhi and I will be one of the first pairs. We're going to go look around the children's rides for our key."

"Mori and I will find our key! We'll go look by the center fountain!" Honey said in that childish voice.

"I will find my own key, on the condition that I can take whoever I want in with me. I will be the last to go in."

Everyone agreed, not thinking anything of it.

"Then I shall go look in the shops."

It was just the four of us left.

"We only need four keys, so we can all look together. We should look on some of the rides. Kaoru and I will check the roller coasters. You and Hikaru can look on the merry-go-round, the Ferris wheel, and the Scrambler."

"Fine by me. We'll meet you by the Octopus," I told my sister. Hikaru led the way to the Scrambler.


	13. The Lucky Keys

Furukia and I didn't find any keys of any sort on the Scrambler, or the merry-go-round. The last place we were checking before meeting back up with Zakia and Kaoru was the Ferris wheel. And I was kind of excited to go on the Ferris wheel.

The view from the ride was great. It was said to be really romantic at night, with the park lit up. A lot of couples ended up kissing on the Ferris wheel. If only I could be so lucky.

"Last stop before we go to the Octopus. Think we'll find one here?"

"I have a good feeling about this," I said, grinning.

Furukia's blush told me that she knew I wasn't necessarily talking about finding a key.

As we rode up, Furukia stared out over the crowds and other rides. I had thrown away my broken headphones. Instead, I had the new earbuds Furukia had given me. I handed her one and played a slower song.

Furukia relaxed and leaned back, looking up at the stars overhead. Not many could be seen with the park lit up, but I spotted some of the brighter ones.

There was a strange scraping sound, like metal rolling on metal. Furukia and I sat up, searching our car. On the floor behind our feet was a mystical looking silver key. I stashed it in my pocket. The ride was almost over. Furukia and I were on our way down, only about five cars from getting off.

"Furukia, I…"

She looked at me with wide eyes, a faint blush coloring her cheeks.

"Oh, damn it all…" I leaned towards her, and her eyes fluttered closed. I closed mine to and gave her a little peck on the lips.

Our car came to the bottom, and we got off, running to meet Zakia and Kaoru. Still, the feeling of Furukia's lips softly on mine made my whole body tingle.

"Hey, did you guys find one?" Kaoru asked as they came up from behind us.

I pulled out the key and showed it to them.

"Sure did. It was on the Ferris wheel. You guys have any luck?"

"Not yet. We checked all the roller coasters we went on with you guys, and even stopped at the Whirlwind. Nothing."

"Perhaps you'll have more luck this time?"

"Maybe…" Kaoru said, looking at the ride doubtfully.

When it was our turn. the four of us could all sit in one car. When the ride actually started, Furukia and Zakia started laughing with the motion. This was their first ride really together.

The twins grabbed hand together as our car spun particularly fast. The girls laughed hysterically. Kaoru and I chuckled a bit. We grabbed hands, too, like when we were younger. We were okay.

The ride threatened to make me sick, and I grabbed Furukia's hand for comfort. Zakia and Kaoru linked hands to, and the four of us made an endless spinning circle, all of us laughing and happy. When we stopped in the top spot, still spinning madly, we all looked around on the floor for keys. Zakia found one under her shoe. Kaoru found one in the center console like area, where the hand bars were. Furukia found one, too, when she slipped on it as we were getting off. She pocketed it, assuring the official she was alright.

"Wow. Three keys! That means we can each go as couples, and then in our twin pairs," Furukia said.

The four of us simultaneously blushed. Neither Kaoru, nor I had actually asked either of the girls out.

We were silent as we wandered back towards the game. Furukia hung her head the whole way, sheepish of her words.

Honey and Mori were already there.

"Hey, guys! We found a key in the fountain. And Mori gave me a quarter and I made a wish."

"Cool," Zakia said, sitting next to Mori on a bench. He reached over and ruffled her hair. He cared for the hosts like an older brother, and I suspected this was his way of extending that brotherly friendship to the twins.

Furukia almost walked past him, but Mori caught her around her middle and ruffled her hair, too. He let go, and she moved to sit by her sister, then, bump. Mori's hand hit Furukia's chest. His blush couldn't be mistaken. So he was also now aware of the secret. The Host Club had gained a couple of crossdressers.

"Sorry," he mumbled.

"It's okay…"

"What's wrong, Takashi?"

"Nothing, Mitsukuni. Everythings alright."

Honey frowned, but it passed quickly, and he started playing in front Mori with Usa-chan, his stuffed rabbit.

"Why does Honey like that stuffed rabbit so much?" Furukia asked, watching him as I sat down beside her.

"It was made for him by his late grandmother."

"Oh. Why does he act like that in the first place?"

"It's just the way he is. There was a time when he tried to resist, to act like his younger brother, who hates cute things and sweets, and to deny his true self. But when Tamaki asked him to join the Host Club, telling him it was all right for him to like cute things, Honey went back to being himself."

"Is there a reason Mori doesn't speak much?"

"Not really. He's just a guy of few words."

"What about Tamaki? What's with him?"

"He's an illegitimate child. His grandmother isn't very kind to him, and he's been separated from his mother in France."

"Wow. That's heartbreaking. Does everybody in this club have family problems?"

"It would seem so."

"Even Mori?"

"He's Honey's cousin."

"What about Kyoya?"

"Kyoya was trying to inherit the lead part of his family's huge business. He was trying to surpass his brothers all the time. Now, he just doesn't seem to care. As much as you've seen him laughing and having a good time today? A month ago, he was cool, calm, and didn't talk to anyone like he was human, except Tamaki."

"What about Haruhi?"

"Haruhi's mother died, a long time ago, before any of us met her."

"Have all the hosts had a crush on her at one point or another?"

"Honey didn't, Kaoru let go pretty quickly to give me a better chance, and Mori and Kyoya never expressed much interest. Tamaki was the one to win her over."

"And if she was still available?"

"My crush would still be over. Tamaki was really the best choice for her."

With Honey on the ground between Mori's feet, and the rest of us on the bench, we waited for the missing three of the group.

Kyoya arrived first.

"I found one. At the place where we got the Funnel Cake. Right under the table we sat at."

Kyoya preferred to stand behind the bench rather than take a seat. He observed the crowd and stared at the key and the door thoughtfully.

When Tamaki and Haruhi finally returned, both looked rather disheveled. My brother, Zakia, Furukia, and I were the only ones who'd changed out of the uniforms.

"We found one. It was on a big two person swing. It went pretty high. It was next to all the kiddie rides, so Haruhi and I decided to give it a try."

"Well, Boss, you said you wanted to go first," I said, gesturing at the door.

"So I did."

He put in the key, opened the door, and walked in, with Haruhi right behind him. She made sure to grab their key, like the smart person she was.

"Takashi and I will go next," Honey said, leaping to his feet. He held Takashi's hand as they walked in the door.

"See you back here," Kaoru said, leaving with Zakia.

Kyoya took Zakia's empty seat without a word of goodbye as he watched Furukia and I vanish into the door.

I opened my eyes to find myself looking down at Furukia's face. I pushed myself over so I was laying on my back next to her. We were somewhere completely different from Scream. It was cool, and I could smell water. Crickets chirped, and trees were all around us.

"Hikaru?" Furukia asked.

"Right here. But I don't know where here is."

She opened her eyes and took in the trees.

"We should climb up one of these, and see if there's anything around."

I scaled one of the trees easily enough. A night sky was above us, and a full moon. The trees didn't reach far. I could see fields of grass a short distance away.

"No civilization. But I saw some fields we can go hang out in. Unless you want to stay here in the woods."

"The fields sound nice."

I led the way through the woods, being careful to not trip on the roots of trees or fall in mud, or anything else embarrassing.

We sat in the grass for a while, just staring up at the stars and listening to music.

"Hikaru, do you think we're stuck here?"

"I think there's a trick to getting out."

"Like what?"

"I dunno. Could be almost anything. But do you want to go back already?"

"No. I like it here. It's just weird, not having my sister around constantly most of the day."

"I know what you mean. I feel the same with Kaoru. But it's okay to branch out, too."

"Zakia and I...well, we're just tired of getting hurt."

"I've heard you talk about your mom some, and I've met her. But where's your dad? Where's the rest of your family?"

"Our dad is gone. He left our mother before we were even born. If we have any other family, our mother never speaks of them."

"Why don't you like your mom?"

"Would you like your mother if she abandoned you for almost five years, then asked you to move to another country to show you off?"

"Did she really?"

"Yes."

"Did you like it better, back in England?"

"We don't know yet. We've only been here for three days. A completely crazy, memorable, full three days."

"I'm sorry, about earlier. If you didn't want me to...erm…"

"It's okay, Hikaru. I wanted you to."

I smiled. I didn't know how or why I was able to develop a crush on this girl so fast, but I had.

"Hikaru, will you take a picture with me?"

"Sure."

She took a photo of us together on her phone.

"Do you have any other pictures on there?"

"A few from England. Only a couple from here. Zakia and I have never taken very many pictures in the past, because there weren't many things we wanted to remember. We've been trying to take more pictures the last few days, with so many things happening to us."

"What have you taken while you've been here?"

She showed me a photo of her, her sister, and an older woman.

"That's Melikishi. She's our maid. We love her so much. She's what's made living in that castle, mansion, or whatever you want to call it, bearable."

"You really don't care for the wealthy lifestyle, do you?"

"Zakia and I hate it. It's just not us."

"It's different when you're raised as a wealthy kid, I think."

She showed me another one of their house, and one of their limo, the driver waving, a kind smile on his face. The next one was of the twins, each holding a rose. Zakia an orange one, and Furukia a blue. Roses in Kaoru and I's colors. The last one she had was taken today, after Kaoru finally won a game. Kaoru and Zakia were laughing, and Kyoya was actually smiling. Caught on camera, and smiling. Another showed Kaoru and I, a ridiculous look on our face, holding Funnel Cakes. It must've been when we saw the rest of the hosts pop up. The last picture, was, of course, the one we'd just taken.

"They aren't really in order. You have to look at the dates to know which ones were taken when."

"Well, I'm glad I get to be part of your memories."

She smiled, and laid back in the grass again. I reached down and took her hand in mine. Our finger interlaced.

Suddenly, we were standing upright, and walking back out of the door. Tamaki and Haruhi were the only ones sitting on the bench besides Kyoya, who was reading his black book.

"What did you guys see?"

"We started out in some trees, then walked to some fields. I held her hand, and suddenly, we were walking back out the door."

"We were on a cliff, watching a sunset. I put my arm around her, and she laid her head on my shoulder, and, suddenly, we were back."

Mori and Honey walked out of the door. Honey had been mid-laugh, and Mori was smiling up at him. They were surprised to be finding themselves back outside the door.

"Where were you guys?"

"We were just walking on this white sand beach. The water was really nice, and Takashi and I played for a little while. Then we walked further on the beach. After a while, my feet started to hurt. Takashi picked me up on his shoulders. He told me a joke, and I hugged him and laughed. And now, here we are."

They sat on the bench and Honey scooted down to Takashi's lap. He ruffled the small boy's hair, then turned his attention back to the door. Zakia and Kaoru were still in there…


	14. Facing Fears

**I opened my eyes, and found myself alone. Kaoru was gone. I was sitting in the middle of a grove in the woods. It was a cloudy sky above me, and there was a cool breeze. It would've been nice, if I hadn't been so scared.**

**I hated being alone. All my life, I'd had Furukia with me. I'd never had to worry about being alone. But now I was.**

**Rather than sitting around crying and whimpering, I got up to look for Kaoru. I wasn't one of the damsels in distress that were always in need of saving in some of Furukia's stupid romance books.**

**"****Kaoru?" I called.**

**A bird fluttered out of a tree. A frog croaked from a nearby pond. The breeze rustled the trees. Nothing else stirred.**

**"****Kaoru?" I called again, walking into the trees.**

**I walked a short ways, but there were no footprints, no snapped twigs, or trampled leaves. No signs of Kaoru, or any people.**

**I climbed one of the trees to look around. The woods ended a little further in the direction I'd been walking. There, looking completely out of place, was an abandoned looking carousel. It was two levels, and it looked like it would still work. It was just in the middle of nowhere. There were no other buildings in sight.**

**"****It's like a Nowhere Land," I muttered.**

**"****Do you need help, princess?" Tamaki's voice said.**

**I turned and looked down at the ground, but Tamaki wasn't there.**

**_Great. Now I'm going insane._**

**"****Do you think we're insane?" my identical's voice asked.**

**I turned to look beside me or my twin, but she wasn't there, either.**

**"****I'm hearing voices…" I whispered.**

**"****Whose voices do you hear, Zaki-chan?" Honey's sweet little voice asked.**

**"****Ahh!" I screamed.**

**"****What is it? What's wrong, Zakia?" Hikaru asked.**

**"****Leave me alone. Leave me alone!"**

**"****Zakia…" Mori's quiet voice beckoned.**

**"****You're not real! None of you are!"**

**"****It's alright, no big deal," Haruhi reassured.**

**"****Go away," I moaned as I climbed back down the tree. I curled up in a ball at it's roots.**

**"****What a strange thing to say. Do you enjoy my company, Zakia?" Kyoya asked.**

**"****Zakia? Zakia, where are you? Are you alright?" Kaoru called.**

**"****It's not real, you're not real! Leave me alone!"**

**"****Zakia? Where are you?" The voice was still Kaoru's. He'd walked in the door with me, hadn't he? Or was I in some strange come, doomed to madness?**

**"****Zakia!"**

**I couldn't help it. I started to cry. It was too much. The voices, so like them. But none of them were there. I was alone. And now, I was driven mad because I couldn't stand being alone.**

**Furukia, and I, that's how it had always been. Always together. She was always there. And now, I'd lost her, and the others who'd I'd just been beginning to care about.**

**"****Zakia! I was so worried. You weren't there when I opened my eyes. I've been roaming the woods looking for you. Why didn't you answer my calls?"**

**My tears only came harder. I kept hearing his voice. Why did it have to be his? The one I was just getting close to?**

**"****Zakia, are you okay?"**

**A hand brushed the hair out of my face. And there was Kaoru, kneeling next to me.**

**"****They keep talking. In my head. They won't stop…" I sobbed.**

**Kaoru picked me up and carried me out of the woods. The other voices became a rumble of talking at the edge of the woods, before all but one vanished. Furukia.**

**"****Where have you gone, Z-z?"**

**When Kaoru looked down and noticed I was calmer, he stopped. We were about twenty feet from the carousel. At least thirty feet out of the woods.**

**"****What happened? You were crying when I found you."**

**"****The voices. They kept talking, in my head. I thought I was going crazy. I still think I am. They weren't there, any of them. And I still hear her voice. She doesn't go away."**

**"****Whose voices?"**

**"****The other hosts. And my sister."**

**"****You and your sister are hosts, now. You know that, right?"**

**"****Whatever. But, that's who I heard."**

**"****Did you hear me?"**

**"****I don't know how much of it was fake and how much was real."**

**"****Well, I'm real. As real as you."**

**"****But, am I real?"**

**"****Of course. How can you not be?"**

**"****What if none of us is real?"**

**"****But how can that be?"**

**"****I don't know."**

**"****Then it can't be. So, stop talking about voices and such. You wanted to play this game, didn't you?"**

**"****Just don't leave me, okay? Promise."**

**"****I promise."**

**"****So do I. I'm always with you," Furukia's voice said.**

**"****Thank you," I whispered, and hugged him. He hugged me back, tight, like he was afraid he would lose me again.**

**We walked back out the door.**

**"****What? But, how?"**

**"****What did you guys see?"**

**"****I went mad, and Kaoru found me, and most of my madness went away… My madness was caused by your voices. I heard you, all of you. But none of you were there. Then Kaoru carried me out of the woods, and I still kept hearing Furukia's voice. I asked Kaoru to promise he wouldn't leave me, and we hugged, and we walked out the door."**

**"****Wow. Yours was...different," Honey said. I scooped up the small boy and hugged him. I was that glad that my real friends were in front of me.**

**"****Um...Zakia?"**

**"****Yes, Honey?"**

**"****Are you a girl?"**

**All the other hosts looked at each other. Most grinned, but Furukia, Kaoru, Hikaru, and I all burst out laughing.**

**"****Why are they laughing, Takashi?"**

**"****I'm surprised you didn't tell him, Mori," Tamaki said, his eye lit up.**

**"****Takashi, what's he talking about?"**

**"****It's alright, Mitsukuni. I also found out today."**

**"****So Zakia is a girl? Is Furukia a girl, too?"**

**He nodded.**

**"****Why didn't anybody tell me?"**

**"****Hikaru and I promised not to," Kaoru told him.**

**"****I didn't think it was right for me to tell when they promised to keep my secret, Honey-senpai. And I made Tamaki promise not to tell, either," Haruhi explained.**

**"****I simply enjoy seeing all of your reactions when you find out something you weren't expecting that I already know," Kyoya said cooly.**

**"****I'd expect something like that from you, Kyo-chan. But Takashi, why didn't you tell me?"**

**"****I am sorry, Mitsukuni. I didn't know if they would be okay with that. I didn't think it was right to tell you their secret when I only found out by accident."**

**"****Oh. Okay. You know, you can put me down now, Zakia."**

**I set him back on his feet, and he smiled before grabbing Usa-chan from the bench by Mori and sitting on Mori's lap.**

**"****So, how many keys do we have left?"**

**"****All of them, don't we?" I asked.**

**"****No. The used keys seem to have disappeared from everyone's pockets. So, how many are left?"**

**"****One for Kaoru and Hikaru to go together, one for Furukia and I to go together, and yours."**

**"****Then you four may go. I will wait until you all return before entering."**

**Kaoru and Hikaru went first. My sister smiled at me before grabbing my hand. We ran in, laughing.**

**This time, I opened my eyes to moisture. It was raining, and I was quickly as soaked as the rest of the land. Looking around, I was alone again.**

**"****Foo?"**

**Thunder rumbled after the lightning that cracked across the sky, and I got up and ran. The wind blew against me, slowing my place, but I kept running. I didn't want the voices to come. I wasn't sure I'd hear them over the storm, but I didn't want to find out.**

**"****Furukia!"**

**"****Zakia, I'm over here! I'm stuck!"**

**I followed the direction I'd heard her voice. I didn't find her until I tripped, falling into a hole. She was in the whole, too. It was pretty dark, and water sloshed around our ankles.**

**"****Zakia, I'm scared. It's dark here."**

**"****I know. It's not a nice place, is it?"**

**"****You know, it's kinda funny."**

**"****What is?"**

**"****Normally, I'm acting like the big sister for you. But here, in the dark, you're the one acting older."**

**"****I'm not scared of the dark like you, though, Foo."**

**"****That's why back in England, we always had a nightlight."**

**"****We haven't had one here. That's why I haven't been sleeping well."**

**"****I know."**

**We stood in the dark for a long time. Foo seemed lost in thought. I was in a daze. The water kept rising in our hole.**

**"****Furukia, do you know how to swim?"**

**"****It isn't hard, Z-z. Don't worry. If the water rises too high, we can swim out."**

**When it was to my waist, I squinted into the downpour, trying to make out how far up the edge of the hole was. It must've been five feet over our heads.**

**The rain didn't stop. It kept coming and coming, with no end in sight. The water reached our shoulders, and it started raining even faster, harder.**

**When the water reached the point where I had to tilt my head back while I was standing to keep my head over water, Furukia started doggie paddling around our hole. It was about eight feet in every direction from me.**

**The water covered my face, and I rose to my tiptoes. That put my entire head out of the water again. But that could only last so long.**

**I started having to jump from foot to foot to get air. Furukia stayed in place now, but still easily kept above the water.**

**"****Zakia, you have to swim. You have to try.**

**A sudden wave of water filled about two more feet of water. I tried to swim, I did. Another wave filled most of the hole.**

**I pushed at the water, surfacing, sinking, surfacing, sinking. My clothes seemed to drag me down, and the water wasn't being kind. I resurfaced in time to get hit by another wave, which pushed me down to the bottom of the hole.**

**I struggled, kicked, pushed, and squirmed towards the surface, but I couldn't reach the top. I couldn't see Furukia. My lungs were screaming. My muscles were weakening.**

**My body came to a rest at the bottom of the hole, laying under feet of water. Defeated.**

**_Foo…_**

**No. I couldn't give up yet. I had to try, for my sister. New strength filled my limbs as I got up, pushed hard off the bottom of the hole, and shot towards the surface. It was almost enough. Almost. My hand breached the water level. I kicked with what little strength I had left, but I couldn't bring my head above water. I fell unconscious as something grabbed my hand.**

**A glowing line of light in the darkness. That was all I saw. The glowing line was a lifeline, a way back. I grabbed the light, and suddenly, I was whisked back to my sister.**

**I spluttered and coughed, hacking as I pushed off the ground and water drained out of my nose. I opened my mouth, and more water poured out.**

**"****Are you alright, Zakia? I thought you were right behind me. And then, when I got out, I couldn't see you. I saw your hand for a moment, and I grabbed you and pulled you out."**

**I grabbed my wet sister. Clinging to her, I took in what a wreck we were. Soaked, our clothes hanging on us like we were skeletons. No food. I'd nearly drowned. We weren't doing so well. But I didn't care.**

**"****Thank you, Foo. I'm glad you're okay. I kept trying. For you, I kept trying."**

**Furukia hugged me back, clinging as tightly as me. We were both frightened.**

**And we walked out the door.**

**"****What happened? You guys were gone a while," Tamaki said in a worried tone.**

**I looked at Furukia. We looked completely normal. Not a drop of water on us.**

**"****Um, something that should stay between us."**

**"****We won't tell anyone else, Zaki-chan," Honey said.**

**"****You can trust us," Haruhi said, smiling.**

**"****We were in this place where it was endlessly raining. I arrived in a hole, and Zakia fell in not long after. The water filled the hole up. Zakia almost drowned, but I figured out how to swim. Her hand came out of the water, and I pulled her out the rest of the way," Furukia described.**

**"****You're not even wet," Tamaki commented.**

**We shrugged, as clueless as they were.**

**"****We hugged, glad we were both okay and scared out of our wits, and we appeared back here," I said.**

**"****Where are Hikaru and Kaoru?" Furukia asked.**

**"****They haven't come out yet, either."**

**We sat on the bench, I sat next to Kyoya, watching him do something on his netbook, though Furukia couldn't tell what because she couldn't see. She was next to Mori and Honey.**

**"****They will be okay, Furu-chan," Honey said, smiling at her.**

**He was right. A moment later, the twins appeared, laughing, their arms around each others' shoulders.**

**They sat next to us as Kyoya got up, putting his things away.**

**"****I suppose it's my turn now."**

**"****At least wait until we hear the twins' story, first," Tamaki said.**

**"****Well, we were in this same amusement park, see," Kaoru started.**

**"****Except everybody but us was gone. The rides still worked, but nobody else was here."**

**"****We rode a few of the rides."**

**"****Before we ended up going on the Octopus again."**

**"****We don't know why, but it ended up making us laugh, and we held on to each other, like earlier."**

**"****And before we knew it, we were back here."**

**Kyoya took out his black book and wrote something. I'd been right about him already knowing we were girls before we even came. But I wondered what was in that strange little book he always carried around.**

**"****Come on, Zakia," Kyoya said, walking to the door.**

**"****You want me to come with you?"**

**"****That's what I just said, isn't it?"**

**"****But...why me?"**

**"****Because you are the one I choose. Are you coming, or are you going to sit there, with that slack-jawed expression on your face?"**

**I glared at him. What was he suddenly in such a bad mood about?**

**"****You don't want to go with me. It hasn't turned out well either of the other times I've gone in with someone."**

**Kyoya crossed one arm over his chest and put the other to his forehead.**

**"****Just come on, will you?"**

**I got up and went to stand next to him by the door.**

**"****Zakia!"**

**I turned to my sister, and caught the phone she tossed to me.**

**"****In case, you know?"**

**I nodded. I glanced at Kaoru's hurt face, and Hikaru's confusion. The rest of the hosts seemed confused as well, except Haruhi. She frowned in thought.**

**The door opened in front of me, and Kyoya took my hand, jumping in. I had no choice now but to jump with him.**


	15. Jealousy

I didn't like Kyoya's sudden interest in Zakia. He was a second year, Sophomore by English and American standards. While Hikaru and I were the little devil type, he was the cool type. Zakia and Furukia would probably be the mysterious and mischievous type, or MM, for short.

"Honey-senpai?"

"What is it, Kao-chan?"

*Could I talk to you for a minute?"

The boy lolita smiled and got off Mori-senpai's lap, taking my hand and making me hunch over some to accommodate to his height. He led me away from the others, towards the center of the park. We came to the fountain and Honey sat on the edge of it, staring down into the fountain. He seemed troubled.

"Are you alright, Honey-senpai?"

"Fine, Kao-chan," he said, his smile returning. "What is it you wanted to talk about?"

"I feel kind of mad at Kyoya. But he's my friend, and I don't understand why I'm mad at him."

"When did you start feeling mad at him?"

"After he said he wanted to take Zakia into the Key World with him. And it was worse when I actually saw them go in together. And now, it's the worst it's been."

Honey's smile became strained.

"Kao-chan, you are not angry at Kyo-chan. I mean, you are, but it's not really him you're mad at. You're mad that he's spending time with Zaki-chan, instead of you. You're jealous, Kaoru."

"But why am I jealous, then? Zakia and I aren't together. I don't think Kyoya likes her. I mean, if he does, he probably won't act on it. He doesn't seem to take any interest in specific girls. So why would I be jealous?"

"Because even though you know that, there's a part of you that thinks he might like her, and that he might act on it. You have a crush on Zakia, and she knows it. She might feel you're taking things a little too fast. But Kyoya, if he does like her, she doesn't know."

"Do you think he likes her?"

"I think it's a possibility, considering his reactions to her today," Honey said slowly.

"What do you mean?"

"Well, when we arrived, and they went to get water, and then they ended up falling to the floor laughing. And after, when he was walking around with you guys. He mentioned something about winning Zaki-chan a prize, too. And now, taking her into the Key World."

"Honey-senpai, what am I going to do? If Kyoya likes her, I probably don't stand a chance!"

"You and Kyo-chan are very different. Zaki-chan will see that. You just have to have hope that you're the one she picks."

"But why would she pick me?"

"Why don't you ask her what she thinks of Kyo-chan, first? That way, you'll know if there's even a reason to worry."

"Thank you for your advice, Honey-senpai."

"Always, Kao-chan. Are you ready to go back to the others? I left Usa-chan with Takashi."

I nodded and let Honey lead us back. I had to think about how I was going to ask Zakia about Kyoya.


	16. Everyone Agrees: Kyoya is Acting Strange

**"****Haruhi. Haruhi!"**

**"****She's fallen asleep," Tamaki told me.**

**"****Oh. I'm sorry. I just wanted to ask her something."**

**"****I can probably answer your question. What do you need, princess?"**

**"****Well, it was kind of personal."**

**"****You could ask me, you know," Hikaru said gruffly.**

**"****It's not a question you'd be able to answer?"**

**"****Why not?"**

**"****Because it's about Kyoya, and between you and Kaoru, Kaoru is closer to him."**

**"****Oh," was all he seemed to be able to think to say. He sat back and looked away from me. I noticed a slight blush on his cheeks. He was embarrassed.**

**"****You know, I'm Kyoya's best friend," Tamaki said.**

**I looked at him doubtfully. Tamaki was a bit dimwitted. I wasn't sure he'd be able to tell if Kyoya liked Zakia or not.**

**"****I am. Really."**

**"****I believe you about that. It's kind of obvious, given how many of your antics he puts up with. But I'm not sure you'll be able to answer this particular question about him."**

**"****It's about you sister, isn't it?"**

**"****Yes. How did you know?"**

**"****Because I'm not blind, Zakia. I can see it, too. He's acting different. He's never treated a girl like I've seen him with your sister today."**

**"****Um, actually, I'm Furukia. Zakia is the one he took in with him."**

**"****Did he do that on purpose?"**

**"****Yes. He meant to take her. Although, besides the fact that our outfits are different right now, I'm not sure he can tell us apart."**

**"****Well, obviously, I can't. But, I've never been able to tell Hikaru and Kaoru apart, either, except for one time."**

**"****And that was a lucky guess," Hikaru muttered.**

**"****I told you, it was intuition!"**

**"****Whatever."**

**"****Do you think Kyoya can tell us apart?" I asked, turning to Hikaru.**

**"****I don't know, honestly. He seems to be able to tell Kaoru and I apart. Maybe he can."**

**"****But it's not just me, right? It seems like Kyoya treats Zakia differently. I mean, even though Haruhi is a host and crossdresser like us, he didn't ever treat Haruhi like this, did he?" I asked, turning back to Tamaki.**

**Tamaki shook his head, his expression puzzled.**

**"****Never. As far as I know, he never had any special interest in Haruhi, besides being her friend, as he is with all the hosts."**

**I turned my gaze back to the door, wondering just what was happening with my sister and Kyoya. Did she know there was a possibility Kaoru wasn't the only host crushing on her?**


	17. Sorry for a Brother

**"****Are you going to be okay?" I asked my brother when he and Honey came back.**

**"****Yeah. I think so. It's just...weird, you know? How quick these two girls just jumped into our lives."**

**"****We didn't give them any other choice, really. Are you saying you wish we could go back?"**

**"****No! No, that's not what I meant at all. It's kind of funny, how quick you can come to care about someone. And then, when someone else comes along and cares about them, too, you feel so confused. Nothing makes sense."**

**"****Are you jealous of Kyoya, Kaoru?"**

**He sighed, putting his head in his hands.**

**"****Yeah. Yeah, I am. I mean, he's all cool and everything, and in comparison, what am I? An annoying kid that likes to pull pranks, tell jokes, and can't take anything seriously."**

**"****You don't act like that around her, and we both know it."**

**"****What do you mean?"**

**"****Even I can tell, Kaoru. You're more open to her, and you let your guard down around her. You're honest with her. And while you like to play pranks and tell jokes, you do it to make your friends laugh."**

**"****But I don't think she realizes I'm serious about her. I really like her, Hikaru."**

**"****So show her you're serious. That doesn't mean you have to be a serious person. It just means you have to show her that she means something to you, and you're going to be there for her."**

**"****You make it sound easy. When did you get to be the mature one, anyways?"**

**"****Well, I have a little help. Furukia's been whispering in my ear."**

**He laughed.**

**"****Thanks for the advice, Furukia. You know, you could speak to me yourself, next time."**

**"****You wanted to talk to Hikaru, so I let you hear Hikaru's voice," she explained.**

**"****Thanks."**

**"****Anytime."**

**I watched my brother's face closely. He was troubled. I couldn't blame him. I'd be jealous, too, if one of the other guys took Furukia somewhere alone.**

**_I only hope that, if it does end up that Zakia has to make a choice between Kaoru and Kyoya, that it's Kaoru she chooses. He'd be heartbroken if she didn't. And I don't know if I'd be enough to help pick up the pieces._**

**I put my arm around Furukia and held her close to me. I would've hated to be my brother right now.**


	18. Kyoya's Crush

**This time when I opened my eyes, the first thing I noticed was the water. I scrambled to my feet, and calmed some when I realized I was only waist deep. A wave came and I fell under. When I came up again, the water was to my stomach. The waves were pulling me in.**

**I tried wading to the beach I saw in front of me, but the waves kept pulling me further away. I began to panic when I felt the water reach my chin.**

**"****Kyoya!"**

**I looked around, and saw him laying on the beach.**

**"****Kyoya!"**

**Another wave crashed in and pulled me further away. I struggled to get my mouth above water to shout his name again.**

**"****Kyoya! Please, help!"**

**I heard a splash as another wave took me under.**

**"****I've got you. It's okay. I've got you," Kyoya said as he carried me to the shore. I sputtered and coughed on the saltwater.**

**Kyoya set me down on the beach and looked me over.**

**"****Are you alright? Are you injured?"**

**"****I'm okay," I said, sitting up on my elbows. I coughed up more saltwater.**

**"****You don't know how to swim?"**

**"****After this and my experience in the Key World with Furukia, I've come to develop a fear of water."**

**"****What happened with Furukia?"**

**"****If you weren't listening when we first came out, I nearly drowned."**

**He didn't reply as he looked around at the beach. There was a forest behind us, but there was no telling how big it was. We didn't have anything but my phone.**

**"****Where did your things go?"**

**"****I left them in Tamaki's protection. I was listening to your stories, and you seem to have a habit of ending up in unfriendly places and dangerous situations."**

**"****Well, you're a smart guy. I'm sure you've figured out some sort of a pattern to this thing. How do we get out?"**

**"****Do you want to leave yet?"**

**"****No. But I figured you'd know."**

**"****Physical affection. Both people must show each other affection in order to leave."**

**"****So, my hugs with Kaoru and Furukia, and Tamaki and Haruhi watching the sunset, and Mori carrying Honey when Honey hugged him."**

**"****Exactly."**

**"****Do you want to leave yet? I mean, why did you want to come here?"**

**"****If you remember, I said I would find my own key, as long as I could take anyone with me. You all agreed. I wanted to come here to spend time alone with a specific person."**

**"****Me? But, why?"**

**"****Because you're different," he said simply.**

**"****Different from who?"**

**"****Every other girl I've ever met. The ones I've seen at the club, Haruhi, random ones I meet on the street. Even your sister. You're different from all of them."**

**"****In what way?"**

**"****You don't seem to be scared of me, in any kind of way. You're honest with me, and give me your real opinions. You're highly intelligent, on top of it all. And you see me differently from anyone else."**

**"****What do you mean?"**

**"****Just, like, earlier, at the place where we got Funnel Cake. You didn't look at me weird when I started laughing with you, or when we fell on the floor. You don't care about who my family is, or what they do. You weren't thinking of anybody else at that moment. You were just seeing me, as I wish everybody could see me. Like I was a normal person you could meet on the street any given day."**

**"****Are you mad at me or something? Are you not okay with me treating you like a normal person?"**

**"****No, I'm perfectly okay with it. I mean, I enjoy your company. I'm glad you don't see any of those things. You just see me, just talk to me. You don't seem to expect anything from me."**

**"****What would I expect? You know, you could probably talk to any commoner girl and she'd treat you the same way."**

**"****No. She wouldn't. You're different."**

**"****So, why did you want to be alone with me, Kyoya? Here, of all places?"**

**"****You are aware Kaoru likes you, correct?"**

**"****Yeah."**

**"****He's not the only one."**

**I blushed. I couldn't help it. I wasn't used to guys just coming up to me and saying they liked me. In England, hardly any guys approached, much less paid attention to get to know me. And they never seemed to like me. Not in the way Kyoya was talking about. Sure, I'd pushed them away, but that hadn't stopped Kaoru.**

**"****I don't understand how you guys can have crushes on me when I've only been here for three days. I mean, today is really the first day I've talked to you."**

**"****Funny how that works, isn't it?"**

**"****So, what now?" I asked. I didn't know what else to say.**

**"****Do you want to go back?"**

**"****Not yet. Do you?"**

**"****No."**

**"****What should we do, then?"**

**"****We could walk along the beach, see if we're on an island or not. And if so, how big it is."**

**"****I'd rather not know. If we are surrounded by water, I'll be terrified."**

**"****What would you like to do?"**

**"****We could take a picture."**

**"****Isn't your phone soaked?"**

**I pulled it out of my pocket. As dry as the sand we were sitting on.**

**"****Not even damp."**

**"****This world is strange."**

**We laid back on the sand, our head next to each other's and I took the picture. Looking at it, Kyoya was smiling.**

**"****Do you normally smile for pictures?"**

**"****No, I don't."**

**"****To be honest. out of all the hosts, I've seen you smile the least."**

**"****That's because it used to be a rare occasion when I smiled. The last month or so, I've been trying to smile a bit more. After all, I don't worry about my father's company anymore, so why shouldn't I? Of course, it's kind of Haruhi's doing."**

**"****Did you used to have a crush on Haruhi?"**

**"****I did not. There was one time when I put her into a situation to see her reaction, and that day was the end of any possible feelings I could have had for her. She sees me as analytical and reclusive. She doesn't think I really like any girls. At the time, she was right. Now, she would be wrong."**

**"****Kyoya, have you ever had a girlfriend?"**

**He blushed. I tried to keep away my laughter, but I had never seen Kyoya blush before, and it was funny in a cute way. I giggled behind my hand for a moment, but I couldn't contain myself. I fell back on the sand again, trying to stop laughing because it was making my sides hurt.**

**"****What's so funny?" Kyoya asked, blushing harder.**

**When I could sit up again, I managed to say between the giggles, "I didn't know you blushed about anything."**

**"****I don't recall ever having done so before," he admitted.**

**"****So, why are you blushing?"**

**"****I've never had a girlfriend."**

**I looked at him curiously.**

**"****I know, I'm so lame. I'm not as cool as I try to make myself out to be. I mean, I must be the only second year student here who hasn't."**

**"****That doesn't make you lame. It just means you haven't found the right girl. After all, most of the girls at Ouran seem like bubbly airheads."**

**"****And most of them are. But you really think that? That I just haven't met the right girl?"**

**"****Yeah. I really do. But you're definitely cool, Kyoya."**

**"****Thank you. It makes me feel better, to know that you are so confident in me."**

**"****Sure. What are friends for?"**

**"****Don't friend zone me yet!"**

**"****What?"**

**"****Isn't that what Americans call it, when a person you like only sees you as a friend?"**

**I laughed. "I wouldn't know, Kyoya. I've never been to America. I'm from England. But don't worry. I haven't written you off yet."**

**"****Oh great. That means there's still a chance for it."**

**"****Well, I don't have a boyfriend, just guys crushing on me. Until I do have a boyfriend, you get to keep flirting with me."**

**"****And what if I want to be that boyfriend?"**

**"****Then I'm going to make you work for it. I'm not going to accept just any random guy. He's got to prove he's not like the rest of them."**

**Kyoya smirked at me before standing up.**

**"****What?"**

**"****Well, you don't want to just sit here talking, do you?"**

**"****I don't mind talking. But, what did you have in mind?"**

**"****I'm going to teach you how to swim."**

**"****Oh, no. I am not getting in the water."**

**"****I promise, you won't drown. And if I teach you to swim, you won't ever have to worry about it again."**

**"****I'm not getting in the water, Kyoya. That's the end of it."**

**Kyoya closed his eyes for a moment, his forehead creasing in concentration. A white light glowed around him, blinding me. When I could see him again, he was wearing swim trunks. And he had some nice abs.**

**"****All you have to do is imagine something in this world, and it happens."**

**"****But...then that's why… That's why the hole filled up, and why I couldn't swim. Because I imagined I couldn't!"**

**"****Yes, it would seem so. Now, will you please let me teach you to swim?"**

**"****No. I'm still not getting in the water."**

**We stared at each other. I couldn't help letting my eyes roam over him. Not only was he cool, but he was hot.**

**"****Fine, I won't make you. But we can at least sit in the shallows. The water feels nice."**

**He waded in to his knees and sat down, relaxing.**

**I imagined myself in a swimsuit and sat in the waves a bit behind him. I wasn't really getting wet.**

**"****I promise, you'll be safe in the shallows. You can easily stand and walk back out."**

**I scooted myself a little deeper into the water. And a little deeper.**

**Kyoya reached back and pulled me up next to him. Apparently, that didn't count as affection, because we didn't go anywhere.**

**Kyoya looked me up and down. I stared at a shell I could see laying in the sand next to me.**

**"****That's very flattering on you, even though it doesn't reveal anything."**

**"****Th-thanks."**

**"****Funny, that it's orange and purple."**

**"****Why?"**

**"****Because Kaoru's rose color is orange. And mine is purple."**

**"****Really? I had no idea. About your rose color, anyways."**

**"****In Japanese culture, purple signifies wealth and privilege. While I have both those things, I prefer the Western culture meaning. Enchantment, and love at first sight."**

**"****Enchanting is alright. Heck, I can even believe you're enchanting. But I don't believe in love at first sight. I don't believe in love at all."**

**"****Now that's a sad thing. When a person forgets how to love."**

**"****But I haven't forgotten how to love. It's just that love isn't real."**

**"****No? You don't love your sister, then?"**

**"****Well, I guess I do. But she's the only one."**

**"****I had forgotten how to love, too. But Tamaki, my ridiculous best friend, helped me learn how. And now I have friends, at the club."**

**"****Who's your favorite guest to entertain?"**

**"****None of them. All they do is flirt and try to make cute faces. I like a host."**

**"****Well, I already know that. But, if you had to pick. Who'd be your favorite guest?"**

**"****I suppose, without any other choice, I would pick Helena. She's like the others. Bubbly, flirty, making the cute faces. But she's not an airhead. She's very intelligent, and occasionally we have a decent conversation."**

**"****That's a good thing. Why do you put up with the club, if you don't like it?"**

**"****I do enjoy myself there. Just not as an actual host. I tend to be behind the scenes, making sure everything goes alright and that Tamaki doesn't go over budget. The Hitachiins even nicknamed me the Shadow King, because I'm really the one who controls everything from the back."**

**"****I'm guessing you don't like Kaoru very much right now, do you?"**

**"****On the contrary, Kaoru and I have a good friendship. I just don't like that you spend so much time with him. I know you like each other. But if you were completely set on him, you wouldn't still be here with me, would you?"**

**"****No. And I never claimed to be set on Kaoru."**

**"****I know that. But I also know he has many more opportunities than I do. He has class with you, and he already knows where you live."**

**"****You'll be learning that yourself tomorrow. I mean, won't you? You are coming over with your parents, since my mom has that big business meeting or whatever, aren't you?"**

**"****I didn't know you'd want me to come."**

**"****All the hosts are invited. But, yes, I would like you, in particular, to come."**

**"****Just me, or me and Kaoru?"**

**"****Why do you ask questions you know the answers to?"**

**"****Because that's how I know people are honest with me."**

**"****Well, it seems like it would be kind of saddening, to be thinking like that."**

**"****A little bit. But I'm more jealous than anything."**

**"****Jealous of Kaoru?"**

**"****Yes. I said earlier that he is my friend, and he is. But I'm jealous that he gets so much time with you and I get so little."**

**"****Promise me something, okay? I may not believe in promises, but this is more of a promise to Kaoru."**

**"****What is it?"**

**"****Promise me that you and Kaoru won't get in any fights over me. I'm not worth your friendship with him."**

**"****I can't promise you that. But I will try my best to avoid any fights for you."**

**I smiled. "Thank you, Kyoya. That's all I'm asking."**

**"****Could you do something for me?"**

**"****What?"**

**"****I will come tomorrow, since you want me to. Can you wear a dress?"**

**"****Oh, well, you know I-"**

**"****Just think about it for me."**

**"****Alright, I'll think about it. But if I do wear a dress, I will have tights on underneath, and I'm still going to be wearing my beaten up tennis shoes."**

**Kyoya laughed. "I wouldn't have it any other way."**

**We sat together for a while, sitting in the waves. The sun went down, the moon came up. Stars shone overhead, and the water turned cold. I shivered.**

**"****We should get out of the water."**

**"****It's okay. We can stay if you want."**

**"****No, we can't. You're shivering cold."**

**Kyoya picked me up and carried me back onto the dry sand, still a little warm from the day's heat.**

**I pictured my regular clothes, dry, and I was wearing them again. The night became a lot warmer.**

**"****Better now?"**

**I nodded and leaned back on my elbows, looking up at the stars. Here, there were no lights to take away from their beauty.**

**I laid back all the way, and my head hit something rock solid, steady, and moving. I sat up again, looking behind me to see Kyoya smiling. I'd accidently put my head on his chest, and he hadn't changed clothes.**

**"****You know, as long as I don't show you affection, you can lay on me, and we'll still be here."**

**Slowly, I rested my head on him again. His breathing was soothing, the steady beat of his heart was like the soft drum of rain on the roof during a stormy night. I was trying not to fall asleep on him.**

**I imagined a battery powered radio, and sat up to turn it on. Then I heard soft snores. I looked back and saw Kyoya's sleeping face. I gently took away his glasses and put them in an imagined case on top of the radio. Then I thought better of it and imagined the radio away, putting Kyoya's glasses in my pocket.**

**I checked my phone for the time, but time wasn't moving here. That didn't mean it wasn't moving on Earth though. I didn't want to wake Kyoya up, but I thought I'd better.**

**"****Kyoya. Kyoya," I whispered in his ear. He stirred, but didn't wake up.**

**"****Kyoya," I tried again. Same thing.**

**_I don't want to wake him up rudely. Perhaps something that would surprise him?_**

**I kissed him gently on the cheek, but that got no reaction at all.**

**Without any other ideas, I kissed him on the mouth.**

**Kyoya's eyes flashed open for a moment, then closed again. He pushed himself up on his arms, kissing me hard.**

**I broke away.**

**"****That's something I've been wanting to do since I saw you," he said, breathing heavily.**

**The world melted into light around us, and we walked back out of the Key World. Looking at Kyoya, he looked the same as when we went in, as did I. Except, there was one thing missing.**

**"****Kyoya, where are your glasses?" Tamaki asked.**

**"****I'm not sure."**

**"****Are you guys okay?"**

**"****Fine."**

**Furukia got up and ran to me.**

**"****You guys were gone for a long time. I was worried you couldn't figure out a way back," she said.**

**"****There's always a way for me to get back to you, Furukia. No need to worry," I said, giving her a reassuring smile.**

**"****Kaoru was jealous that Kyoya took you in there," Furukia whispered in my ear. "Don't be surprised if he seems kind of angry when you talk to him."**

**"****Kyoya doesn't seem to pleased to see Kaoru, either," I whispered back.**

**We both sneaked looks at Kyoya as he took a seat on Tamaki's free side. To anyone else, it would seem natural, as Tamaki was his best friend. But to Furukia and I, we saw his tensed muscles and dark looks. Before we'd gone in, he'd sat in the big empty part of the bench next to Kaoru.**

**"****Hold on a second," I told her.**

**I went over to Kyoya and whispered in his ear, "You promised. You promised me you'd try to not fight with him. He's your friend."**

**Kyoya relaxed, and his expression cleared into cool calmness.**

**"****I know. You're right. I'm sorry."**

**"****Is there anything else anyone wants to do before we leave?"**

**Everyone shook their heads, except Honey.**

**"****Can we all go sit by the fountain and make a wish?" he asked.**

**The idea brought a smile to my face. "That's a great idea, Honey. Anything else?"**

**No one spoke up.**

**"****Then let's go to the fountain. Tamaki, you're the president, lead the way."**

**Tamaki picked up a sleeping Haruhi in his arms and carried her. She woke up as we walked.**

**"****Tamaki, you can put me down."**

**"****Nonsense, princess."**

**"****Cut the crap and put me down."**

**He complied, and Haruhi held his hand instead.**

**Mori carried Honey on his shoulders behind them, and Hikaru and Kaoru walked together in front of Furukia and I. Kyoya followed behind us.**

**"****So, what happened in the Key World with him?"**

**"****I nearly drowned again, and he saved me."**

**"****That's all?"**

**"****Yeah. How long were we in there, anyways?"**

**"****About half an hour. It's nearly ten."**

**"****That's it?"**

**"****Yes."**

**"****It's a lot earlier than I thought."**

**"****Yeah. But, is that really all that happened between you and Kyoya?"**

**"****I promise. But I now have a fear of water that goes as high as my waist. Less than that, I'm okay."**

**"****What about rain?"**

**"****Unless I'm stuck somewhere and it's flooding, doesn't bother me."**

**We walked in quiet until we reached the fountain.**

**Everyone had a coin of some kind. Furukia found two pennies in my pocket. Hikaru had couple dimes. Kyoya had a nickel. Tamaki supplied quarters for he and Haruhi. Mori had a half dollar, and he gave Honey a silver dollar coin.**

**Haruhi made a silent wish. Tamaki yelled out, "I wish that the Host Club never ends, and all of it's current members remain friends forever!"**

**Mori and Honey's wishes were also silent, but I could see Honey's lips moving with his thoughts. Kaoru and Hikaru tossed in their coins, whispering one wish together between them, but in voices no one else could hear.**

**_I wish that the hosts all remain friends forever, and that Kaoru and Kyoya don't end up fighting over me._**

**_I wish that I keep a close relationship with my sister, no matter the costs._**

**Furukia and I smiled at each other, after hearing each others wishes. We could do that, when we concentrated hard enough.**

**We tossed our coins in together, and they clinked together in the air before splashing and settling one on top of the other at the bottom.**

**We walked over to the others who'd already made their wish and waited for Kyoya to catch up.**

**"****Why did you wish for that second part?"**

**"****Because it's not hard to tell that Kyoya has been treating me differently from other girls. I think he likes me."**

**"****So does everyone else."**

**"****Yeah."**

**"****Hey, Zakia, can I put Hikaru and I's phone number in your contacts?" Kaoru asked.**

**"****Of course. Actually, I'm surprised you didn't ask sooner."**

**I opened the phone and went to our contacts for him.**

**"****You don't have any contacts. From England, or here. How come?"**

**"****No one to call back home, and the only phone number we'd have here is our mother's. We didn't add her to our contacts, obviously."**

**"****Right. Sorry."**

**"****It's alright," I said, smiling sadly at him. I didn't like talking about our mother. Remembering how she used to be, and then her abandonment. How she was now. It was painful.**

**"****There. And I put your number in our phone, too. Now we can call."**

**I took the phone back and stuffed it in my pocket. Furukia had left our bag home, and I was used to carrying the phone in my pocket. Furukia didn't like to because she found it uncomfortable.**

**"****Oh, Zaki-chan, Furu-chan, you should let me put my number in," Honey said.**

**"****Sure. Can you catch from up there?"**

**"****No, I've already got Usa-chan."**

**I ran to catch up with them, since we were all wandering back towards the front gate.**

**I reached up to give it to Honey, but Mori took it from me instead.**

**"****I'll take care of it."**

**Mori tapped quickly on the phone, then handed it back. Looking at it, I noticed he'd added his own number as well.**

**I added Zakia and I's number to their phones, then walked beside them, looking at Mori curiously. He didn't like to talk much, so I didn't understand why he'd given me his number.**

**"****I like to text," he said simply, smiling. I returned the smile before running back to my twin.**

**"****Wait, Notoskis! Shouldn't you have your uncle's phone number?"**

**We looked at each other, equally confused. Tamaki came back to us and snatched our phone. He kept trying to flip it open, but it wasn't a flip phone.**

**"****It's a slide, you idiot."**

**Tamaki put in his number quickly, then went off to sulk.**

**"****He really doesn't take insults well, does he?"**

**"****No. He never has. He's the strangest guy I know," Kyoya said from behind us.**

**"****I'm surprised he didn't try to make us give him our number."**

**"****He won't have to. He'll memorize after asking someone for your phone number, after about three times."**

**"****He really is very strange. Oh, I forgot to ask Haruhi!"**

**I ran up again, and Haruhi happily traded numbers with me. Coming back, I saw a kind of sad look in Kyoya's eyes.**

**"****Are you alright, Kyoya?"**

**"****Fine," he said gruffly. I could hear the lie in his voice. Like earlier when he'd said we were fine, except then, he'd been happy. He'd wanted to tell the other hosts about the nice time we had, but he didn't want anyone to start asking us a bunch of questions. Not to mention what Kaoru might do. Now, he was sad.**

**"****Why don't you go walk with Hikaru and Kaoru?" I asked Furukia. She glanced back at Kyoya, then nodded.**

**I dropped back by Kyoya. "What's wrong?"**

**"****Nothing."**

**"****You don't have to lie to me."**

**He sighed. "I knew you could see right through me."**

**"****So what's wrong?"**

**"****You didn't even ask me if I wanted your phone number."**

**I laughed. "I expected you to ask me. Isn't that kind of how it works? I was kind of disappointed when you didn't."**

**Kyoya blushed again.**

**"****I suppose it is how it normally happens, isn't it? A guy asks for a girl's number and she gets his, too."**

**I took my phone out and handed it to Kyoya. He easily put his number in the phone, and mine in his.**

**Kyoya glanced up at Hikaru and Kaoru, neither of them were looking back. They were too busy arguing with Tamaki again.**

**Kyoya leaned down and kissed me on the cheek. I felt my cheeks heat up with a blush. Kyoya was just being too cute.**

**He smiled before taking my hand and practically tossing me up with the twins and my sister. I looked over my shoulder at him, and he was still smiling.**

**"****Hey, Zakia, isn't rock music better than classical?" Hikaru asked me.**

**"****It's my preference, but no type of music is better than any other type. It's all about the meaning you find in the sound."**

**Kaoru, Hikaru, and Furukia all gave me strange looks.**

**"****What? That's my honest opinion. It's how I think about music."**

**Every once in a while, when the twins and my sister weren't talking to me, I'd glance back at Kyoya. He was always smiling. I couldn't figure out why.**

**"****Hey, Zakia, if you could go anywhere, where would it be?" Hikaru asked.**

**"****Italy. Or, if it was moving wise, probably back to England."**

**The twins seemed hurt. "You really don't like it here?" Kaoru asked.**

**"****I don't know what's here. I mean, you guys are all here, but, besides that. What does Japan have that's unique? What makes it special?"**

**"****You two feel the same way on this?" Hikaru asked Furukia.**

**"****Yes. We feel the same way about most things. You know that."**

**"****Kaoru, you know what this means?"**

**"****Sure do. Hey, Boss!" Kaoru yelled after Tamaki, who was getting into a limo. I had no idea whose it was, but since there didn't seem to be any other rides, everyone piled in. It was still very roomy, even with nine of us. Tamaki and Haruhi sat in the two actual seats, then Mori, Honey, Hikaru, Furukia, Kyoya, myself in the corner, and Kaoru, sat in the rest of the seat, with room to spare.**

**Kyoya took his place beside me reluctantly. Furukia had insisted, but with Kaoru's arm around me, Kyoya couldn't acknowledge me without having to look at him.**

**To calm my own nerves and annoyances, I pulled out the phone and went through the photos. When I saw all of the ones from England, especially the one of us at Ryde with our mother, I got homesick. I broke down in tears right there, hating myself. I hated the weakness it showed, in front of everyone of the hosts, too.**

**"****Zakia! Are you alright?" Tamaki asked, seeming shocked by the tears.**

**Looking through the blur, everyone seemed surprised, except Haruhi and Furukia. She'd seen me flipping through the pictures. And Haruhi only seemed concerned.**

**Tamaki got up and walked down to my side of the limo, kneeling in front of me.**

**"****Are you alright?"**

**"****Go back to your seat, Tamaki," I whimpered out.**

**The limo stopped outside a mansion, and Mori and Honey got out, with concerned glances back at me. Hikaru and Furukia scooted along the seats towards Haruhi and Tamaki, but I didn't move.**

**"****What's wrong?" Kaoru whispered in my ear.**

**"****Nothing. I'll be fine. I just need a couple minutes."**

**"****You're crying. That's not nothing."**

**"****It's nothing you can help me with."**

**I wiped at my eyes continuously, but the tears refused to end. I hated it. I hated myself.**

**Kyoya put a hand on my arm, and when I looked, I saw his concern.**

**"****I told you, I'm fine," I said, shrugging both Kaoru and Kyoya off. The car stopped again, and Kyoya cast a last look at me before getting out. I glanced out the window. I was curious where he lived, even if I was upset.**

**All I saw was another huge mansion.**

**Kaoru and Hikaru were next, Kaoru hugging me before leaving. I didn't return it. Furukia scooted all the way back to my end and held me next to her. She knew why I was upset. She knew I missed our mother, and our real home in that stupid cabin. She knew all of it.**

**When the car stopped in front of our house, I threw myself out of the limo, angry with myself. I landed on my hands and knees, getting grass stains on the knees of my pants and on my hands, but not caring.**

**Haruhi did care.**

**"****Zakia! Are you alright?"**

**"****Fine," I gritted out between my teeth. I got up and ran through the gate, through the front door, past my mother, up the stairs, into our room, and slammed the door behind me. I threw myself on the bed, completely fed up with myself, and screamed into the pillow.**


	19. Honesty Hurts

**As soon as I walked into the house, I ran to Hikaru and I's room. I was digging around when Hikaru came in.**

**"****What are you looking for, Kaoru?"**

**"****Where's our cell phone? I want to text Zakia."**

**I turned towards my brother to find him holding it.**

**"****Remember? You gave it to me to put in my pocket after getting their number?"**

**"****Right. I remember now."**

**Hikaru tossed me the phone and I laid on the bed.**

**_R u ok?_**

**While I waited for her response, I watched Hikaru on our laptop, playing some kind of mystery shooter game.**

**_I guess?_**

**The text just made my mood drop.**

**_Wut made u break down like that?_**

**_Nothing. I don't want 2 talk about it._**

**_Plz tell me?_**

**It was a while before she responded.**

**_I miss home, ok?_**

**I thought about that for a moment. The pictures on their phone. She'd had her phone out.**

**_Is there something special u miss?_**

**_The way my mom used 2 b. & the fun times we had our summer cabin in Ryde._**

**_Do u want 2 move back 2 England?_**

**Again, her response took a while.**

**_I honestly don't know. If we did go back 2 England, we'd miss u guys. All of the hosts._**

**I didn't know what to say to that. After a while, I replied.**

**_But ur sure ur ok now?_**

**_Nothing chocolate can't fix. ;)_**

**_I guess I'll c u school 2morrow, then._**

**_C u._**

**"****So, is she alright?"**

**"****Yeah. She misses her home. They both do, I guess. I mean, how would we feel if we got yanked away to go live in China with our cousins or something like that?"**

**"****Hate it."**

**"****Well, that's kind of how they feel."**

**After a while, with nothing better to do, I called Kyoya. I had to know about his feelings for Zakia.**

**"****You know, it's nearly midnight. Again."**

**"****What do you mean, again?"**

**"****You called two nights ago, asking about the Notoski's phone number."**

**"****Sorry, Kyoya, but I have no idea what you're talking about. It's Kaoru."**

**"****Oh, I'm sorry. It was your brother then, that called last time. Still, he obviously didn't tell you. Please don't call me after ten again."**

**"****Okay, I won't. I'll text instead, so if you're asleep, I won't bother you. But, I wanted to ask you something."**

**"****Yes?"**

**"****How do you feel about Zakia?"**

**"****Are you worried about something she is doing?"**

**"****That's not what I'm asking. I'm asking how you feel about her."**

**"****She's unique. Even from her sister. She's strong willed, stubborn, has developed partial hydrophobia, and as a tomboy, prefers wearing male clothing and shoes. She generally despises dresses and heels, has a very close relationship with her sister, and is not fond of her mother. She-"**

**"****Kyoya! That isn't what I'm talking about. I mean how do you feel about her? Is she your friend, your enemy? Do you like her?"**

**There was silence on the other end of the line.**

**"****Well?"**

**"****My feelings for Zakia are unexplored at worst and a casual crush at best. I highly doubt any feelings or actions of mine will sway her from you, Kaoru. Even if I were to get close to her, you spend much more time with her, and I'm fairly certain you're more her type."**

**"****Will you back off?"**

**"****You are my friend, Kaoru. I do not want to fight with you, but I will tell you now. If I can, I will try to win Zakia's heart."**

**"****That's more than a casual crush, then."**

**"****Yes, I suppose it is. Are you satisfied? Did I tell you what you wanted to know?"**

**"****Yes. Thank you for being honest with me, Kyoya. I know it probably wasn't an easy thing to tell me, with our friendship on the line. I don't want to fight with you, either."**

**"****That's a good thing. Is there anything else you needed?"**

**"****No."**

**"****I'll see you at the club tomorrow, and after, at the Notoski's dinner party."**

**"****See you."**

**I hung up and tossed the phone onto my nightstand, laying back in the bed. Now I really did have to ask Zakia.**

**I fell asleep, trying to think of a way to ask her about her feelings for Kyoya.**


	20. Zakia's Breakdown Recovery

**I didn't know what to make of it when Zakia broke down in the limo. All I knew was, beneath the tears, she was absolutely pissed with herself. She hated crying in front of people. She thought of herself as weak. Even alone, she almost never cried.**

**And to see everyone's looks of concern for her, was eye opening. The hosts, however they acted at the Host Club, very little of those personalities were part of the real people in front of me. The hosts genuinely cared for one another, and were a close group.**

**I didn't know how Zakia and I had stumbled into this. I didn't know why we were so accepted by them. But I did notice Zakia and I opening up to them. Maybe their balance of crazy and weird was why. Whatever the case, they were the only ones we opened up to. And they accepted us as we were, without question, into this close group.**

**The breakdown had come from as a surprise, even to me. She'd been looking at the pictures we had from England, and I knew she was homesick, but that couldn't be all that was going on. Homesickness wasn't enough to make her cry like that in front of them.**

**She'd already experienced a lot of emotional times that day. Perhaps it had all just accumulated into that moment.**

**Whatever the case, it was my job to console my twin. As soon as I walked in, I heard the bedroom door slam. I ran to the kitchen and made a peanut butter and marshmallow sandwich, and retrieved some chocolate from the pantry. They were some of Zakia's favorite treats. Her real favorite was caramels, but there weren't any that I saw.**

**I took the sweets upstairs, spotting our mother walking up the stairs. I hurried past her.**

**"****Furukia!"**

**I stopped, and turned to face her.**

**"****Is Zakia alright?"**

**I looked our mother over. She had dark bags under her eyes, and for once, she wasn't in any kind of business attire. She was wearing capri pants and a tee shirt, like we were all back in England. It was strange, seeing her like this, here.**

**"****Are you alright?" I asked apprehensively.**

**"****Fine. I just haven't been getting much sleep, and I wanted to take a break from the business look."**

**"****Do you have insomnia?"**

**"****No. I'm worried.**

**"****About what?"**

**"****My girls. Crossdressing, running around with a group of boys all the time, and then Zakia running in here in tears, twice."**

**"****We've never been your typical girls, Mother. We probably never will be. We'll always be running around with a group of guys. We just don't get on with girls. Really, we don't get on with people, but this particular group of guys is different from anyone else we've ever met."**

**"****What about Zakia? What about you? Are my girls alright? Are you being bullied at school or something?"**

**"****No. Zakia just doesn't know how to deal with...feelings. We're homesick, everything here is new to us, and Zakia is in a bit of a situation with a couple of boys."**

**"****What do you mean?"**

**"****Well, all of the Host Club members have figured out that we're girls, one way or another. No one outside of the club knows, just them. But two of the guys in the club have started crushing on Zakia, and there's one crushing on me, too. It's been a few crazy days for us. I almost wish we'd started on Monday instead of Tuesday, just to have more time before the weekend to figure a few things out."**

**"****Boys. You don't mean the two boys that stayed the night here?"**

**"****Well, Hikaru likes me, and Kaoru is one of the boys that likes Zakia, but we made them stay in another room. Don't worry. We're responsible enough to handle ourselves."**

**"****Don't forget the dinner tomorrow. I expect you home directly after club. And please, take care of your sister. And let her take care of you. Goodness knows the two of you refuse to let anyone else take care of you, even me."**

**"****You abandoned us. We can't trust you anymore."**

**And with that, I ran upstairs to my sister.**

**"****I brought you some treats."**

**"****Thank you, Foo," my sister said, her voice hoarse.**

**"****Z-z, what's wrong? Why are you crying?"**

**"****I miss home, Foo. I miss home a lot. I miss when Momma used to play with us. I miss our summers at Ryde. I miss when our mother was a real mother. I miss when we had a life, Foo."**

**"****We have a life again. Think about the club."**

**"****I know. But I miss England. I mean, the guys and Haruhi have been awesome, and I've actually found myself smiling and having fun with them. I like them. I've opened up to them. I trust them, even though I thought I'd never trust someone besides you ever again. But, it's not home. This place, this life, isn't us."**

**"****It just needs a few personal touches," I said, my eyes narrowing with mischief.**

**"****What plan do you have?" Zakia asked, sniffling.**

**"****I'll tell you Friday night. We can't do anything about it until this weekend, but I promise, this place will feel more like a home after this weekend."**

**"****Okay."**

**I heard a buzzing sound, like something vibrating.**

**"****What is that?"**

**"****Our phone," Zakia murmured, pulling it out of her pocket and looking at the screen questioningly.**

**"****It's a text from Kaoru."**

**"****Well, eat this first, then you can text him back."**

**I took the phone out of her hand and gave her the sandwich."**

**"****Thank you, Foo. You're always taking care of me."**

**"****And you always take care of me, so don't pretend like you have to do something big and grand to make it up to me."**

**"****Alright, alright," she said, her tears finally stopping.**

**I set the phone down for a moment and gently wiped away her tears with my hand. She smiled gratefully, and sniffled as she ate the sandwich. When she'd finished, I put a tissue to her nose.**

**"****Blow," I commanded.**

**She did, and made a funny noise like an elephant. We collapsed in giggles, chocolates tumbling all over the bed and the tissue somehow finding it's way into the trashcan on the other side of the nightstand.**

**When we could sit up again, I gave her the phone and gathered up the chocolates for her, putting them on her nightstand while I went downstairs to get us some water.**

**As I walked down the hall, I heard something. Like someone was crying. I followed the sound to one of the many doors I had never opened.**

**I pushed it open, and there was my mother on a bed, tears streaking down her face. I ran to her.**

**"****Mother, what's wrong?"**

**"****My girls feel like I abandoned them. Like I wanted to leave them. I was just trying to get better for them, for us. I just wanted us to be able to do anything we could possibly want together."**

**"****Why didn't you take us with you?"**

**"****I thought foster care would be better. I thought they would take care of you until I could."**

**"****Zakia cried, the first night after you left. Cried until she couldn't be sad anymore. And then she got angry. Angry that you had left us. I didn't get angry until a year had passed, and we hadn't heard anything from you. Nothing at all."**

**"****After I got to Japan, nothing seemed to be going right. The business looked like it would flop, I could barely speak to anyone who didn't know English, and I could barely find my way to work. Then, this past year, after I met Yuzuru Suoh and Yuzuha Hitachiin, everything turned around."**

**"****But we never heard from you."**

**"****I had no way to contact you until recently."**

**"****Like hell, you didn't," Zakia said. Her silhouette was in the doorway. With the room being dark, I couldn't see anything except her eyes. They gleamed green like a cat's, angry little slits.**

**"****Zakia, I really had no other choice."**

**"****You could have sent us to family, even if we didn't know them. You could have sent us to live in Ryde, with someone checking on us every week. But it still would've been better than leaving us to foster care."**

**"****Zakia, we are all that is left of our family. Everyone else had died."**

**"****Or ran away scared," I muttered.**

**"****Your father did not run away from us. Where did you get that idea?"**

**"****That's what everyone kept telling us, even the teachers. If he didn't leave us, then where is he?"**

**"****He died."**

**"****How?" Zakia asked coldly.**

**"****He was in the military. He got called in, not long after we found out we were going to be having you two. He never came back. He was killed in action, two months before you were born. After a month, in grief, I moved to England, where you two were born."**

**"****You used to live in America?" I asked.**

**"****I did. But I can't go back there now. I left to make a better life for us. I thought, if I could just make sure you two grew up well, then your father would still be alive, in you. You, in particular, Zakia, you have many traits your father did. You both have his eyes."**

**"****Why didn't you ever tell us?"**

**"****You never asked, and it was too painful for me to bring up."**

**"****That doesn't make your abandonment alright," Zakia said, and went back to our room.**

**"****She's right. We never knew our father, but you running away from your grief is not a good reason to have left us."**

**I got up and left the room, closing the door softly. I got water from downstairs before returning to the room.**

**"****What are you doing?" I asked Zakia, seeing her on the phone.**

**"****Texting Kyoya and Kaoru."**

**"****Pretty worried, aren't they?"**

**"****They were. They texted me first. Kaoru doesn't really know what else to say to me. Kyoya and I are talking about the club."**

**After a while, the sound of Zakia's thumbs tapping the buttons silenced. Looking at the clock, I put a bookmark in my book and set it back on the shelf. It was nearly midnight.**

**I took the phone out of Zakia's hand, noticing that while Kaoru and she had ended their conversation, Kyoya had sent a reply. I tapped a quick message to him.**

**_Srry, Kyoya. She's fallen asleep. I'll let her know u texted her in the morning._**

**_Thnk u. I think I'll b going 2 bed, as well. It's the 1st time in a while for me 2 b going 2 bed before 1._**

**I put the phone on the nightstand next to Zakia's last chocolate. Looking at my nightstand, I saw a chocolate on mine, as well.**

**_Sisters forever, never parting._**

**The thought brought me a smile as I got under the covers, and managed to help Zakia under them, as well.**

**Waking up was a chore. After such an exciting day, and staying up late, I was still exhausted. I got up and changed, and set Zakia's uniform on the cedar chest.**

**My sister was still passed out, her face buried in the pillow, laying on her stomach.**

**"****Zakia?" I whispered, nervous about waking her up. She hated to be woken up rudely, which is why she never did it to anyone else.**

**"****Zakia?" I asked a little louder.**

**I crawled onto the bed with her again, and tapped her shoulder.**

**"****Zakia, you have to get up. We don't want to be late for school."**

**I received no kind of reaction.**

**"****Instead of having dreams, we can go see Kaoru and Kyoya in person, you know."**

**This received a kind of moan, but her eyes didn't even flutter.**

**"****Zakia, get up!"**

**Nothing.**

**"****I hate when I have to do this," I groaned. I grabbed a huge dictionary from the bookshelf and dropped it on the small table.**

**She turned her head.**

**"****Are you kidding me? She's more dead asleep than usual!"**

**I put the dictionary back and went downstairs for the pans. Back in our room, I smacked them together, wincing at the sound.**

**"****Foo, turn off the light," she mumbled in half consciousness.**

**"****Wow."**

**Dreading this now, I went downstairs again, put away the pans, and got a cup of water.**

**"****Z-z, I hate to do this, but you've left me no choice."**

**I dumped the water on her head, and ran out of the room. I could feel her anger even from my hiding place under the sink in the kitchen.**

**"****Foo! Did you dump water on me again?" she yelled from the main entry.**

**I cracked open the cupboard as she stomped into the kitchen, retrieving a package of cinnamon apple pop tarts and getting a glass of milk. She ate quickly, then ran upstairs after taking care of her trash and cup.**

**I quickly grabbed my own package and wolfed them down. I hid behind the door until Zakia came in again, then slipped through the door behind her back. I ran upstairs and grabbed our bag, checking that everything was there. Everything but our phone, which wasn't on the nightstand, meaning Zakia had it.**

**Hiding behind the door again, I slipped out, running back down to the kitchen again. I stuffed a bag of chocolates in, and ran out to the waiting area by the front door.**

**Zakia finally emerged, her hair still wet, but otherwise immaculate. She followed me silently to the limo.**

**"****I'm sorry, Zakia, but you wouldn't get up."**

**"****You know I hate being woken up rudely."**

**"****I tried waking you up nicely. Oh, and by the way, you fell asleep texting Kyoya."**

**She pulled out our phone and looked. A tiny smile touched her lips.**

**"****So? What's up between you two?"**

**"****He told me he likes me."**

**"****It was kind of obvious."**

**"****Not to me."**

**"****You always know when somebody likes a person, unless that person is you. You're blind to others' feelings for you and your own feelings for them."**

**"****That's not true. I know how we feel about each other."**

**"****It's not the same, and you know it. You can read relationships like they are an open book to be read, except your relationships."**

**"****Well, anyways, he told me. And he wants to take me on a date tomorrow."**

**"****What if Kaoru wants to take you on a date tomorrow?"**

**"****I'll tell him I have plans."**

**"****What if he asks who with?"**

**"****I guess I'll tell him, then, won't I? I'm not going to lie."**

**"****He'll probably be upset."**

**"****I won't lie to him. If he can't tolerate Kyoya because of this, then he's not the right guy for me, is he? Kyoya said he would try to avoid conflicts over me with Kaoru."**

**"****That just makes Kyoya the bigger person. But I can see where Kaoru would be coming from."**

**"****Still. I won't lie to either of them if they ask me about something."**

**"****Don't be surprised if they end up in a fight."**

**"****I know. That's the part I hate the most."**

**The limo stopped, and Zakia's door was opened for her. A hand reached in, and she took it. The person helped her out.**

**"****Oh, thank you, Kyoya," she said.**

**"****My pleasure," he said with a smile.**

**The rest of the steps in front of the building were empty.**

**"****You know, you shouldn't have waited for me. You're probably going to be late. Isn't your class on the second floor?"**

**"****Yes. But if I get to see you smile in the morning before I'm stuck in a dull classroom until club, then I'd gladly be tardy everyday."**

**Zakia blushed. He was willing to be tardy everyday just to see her in the mornings. It was adorable.**

**"****That's cute, you two. But, Zakia, we gotta go. Haruhi and the twins will be wondering where we are, and we might make it before the bell."**

**"****Don't worry, I'll text you," Kyoya said as I pulled Zakia inside. Kyoya followed slowly and carelessly, like he had all the time in the world.**

**The bell rang just as we sat down. Haruhi and the twins stared at us for a moment. Haruhi went back to her book with a shake of her head and a smile. The twins started cracking up.**

**"****Shut up!" Zakia and I hushed.**

**They did, just as the teacher walked in. I could tell from the tired look on his face. It was going to be a long day.**


	21. They're Hosts

**Class was a total bore. Furukia and I passed notes. While I was giving her one, I glanced at Zakia. Kaoru was writing a note back to her, but she was looking at the phone in her lap. Texting somebody.**

**_Who else is Zakia talking to besides you, Kaoru, and me?_**

**_She's texting Tamaki, Mori, and Kyoya._**

**Kyoya again. Great.**

**_Seriously, does your sister like Kyoya or something?_**

**_He likes her._**

**_That's obvious, but does she like him, too?_**

**_Honestly, I don't know._**

**I tried prodding her into answering more questions, but she said nothing.**

**For lunch, we had to meet the rest of the club for a meeting of some kind. Everyone showed up, except Furukia and Zakia. I couldn't help noticing Kyoya's searching gaze for them. Kaoru was abnormally quiet.**

**"****Where are the Notoskis?" Tamaki finally asked. Everyone was silent.**

**"****I suppose we'll have to continue without them," Kyoya said in that cold voice of his.**

**"****No. We need to go find them. They're part of the club now. It's time they start acting like it," Tamaki declared with his usual flair.**

**There was a collective sigh from the rest of us. Mori picked Honey up on his shoulders and headed downstairs. Haruhi and Tamaki went to look on this floor. Kyoya headed upstairs. Kaoru and I headed downstairs for the gardens.**

**It wasn't long before we got another text from Tamaki. The twins were in the club for the meeting.**

**"****Wonder who found them?" Kaoru asked.**

**"****I've got a guess or two."**

**Kaoru didn't ask me who.**


	22. New Guest

**Furukia and I got the text from Tamaki. I mean, I'd been texting him, Mori, and Kyoya all morning. Of course we got it. But we didn't want to go. We went up to the roof for lunch instead. It was quiet and I knew Furukia would like the view.**

**I was done eating and sipping my tea when Kyoya stepped out onto the roof.**

**"****What are you doing here?" I asked.**

**"****Looking for you two."**

**"****Would you like some tea? It's my favorite."**

**"****Perhaps another time. I'm actually retrieving you for the sake of the club."**

**"****We came up here for a reason," Furukia said.**

**"****I'll drag you down if I must, but it's my duty to the club."**

**"****Stay for a couple minutes, at least. You're always in such a rush. Stop being so uptight and relax a minute. Like you did in the Key World," I said, patting a spot next to me.**

**Kyoya looked rather surprised I'd said that to him, but he sat down next to me, arms around his knees. He stared out across the city. I laid back and stared up at the sky.**

**"****Do you really think I'm uptight?" he asked.**

**"****Sometimes. But when you stop for a moment and focus your attention on something important to you, you're always seem to relax and calm down.."**

**He rested his head down on his arms and looked at me.**

**"****What are you staring at in the sky?"**

**"****The clouds. I'm afraid I might not be able to see the stars tonight, so I'm looking at the shapes the clouds make."**

**"****What do you see?" he asked, laying back beside me.**

**"****Well, over there I see a duck. And that one is a bicycle. There's a star right there. And if you look right overhead, I see a dragon," I said, pointing around at the clouds.**

**"****You have a very unique way of seeing things. A strong imagination. What do you want to be when you graduate?"**

**"****A soon to be college student."**

**"****And after graduating college?"**

**"****A mechanic. Or maybe a racer. I don't know, something to do with cars."**

**"****Have you ever considered something else?"**

**I laughed. "Yeah. Yeah, I did. When I was little, I thought I'd grow up to be a singer who wrote her own songs."**

**"****Why did you give up?"**

**"****Because I didn't think I could do it. And it became clear pretty quickly that nobody else but Furukia believed I could."**

**"****I believe in you."**

**"****You've never heard me sing. Besides. It's too late. I've given up on that."**

**"****It's never too late if you want to try."**

**I opened my mouth to argue, but Kyoya held up a hand.**

**"****Let's leave it at that. It's about time we went back to the club anyways."**

**"****We'd rather not. I'm enjoying the view and breeze, and Zakia has clouds," Furukia answered for us.**

**"****Tamaki and the rest of the club requests you for the meeting."**

**"****Does that include you?"**

**"****It does, but that's not important."**

**"****Why isn't it?"**

**"****Because I'm not important. Now, let's go."**

**He got up, stuck his hands in his pockets, and walked back into the shadowy door, his head hanging.**

**I looked over at my sister. She looked between us for a moment before sending me after him. She followed slowly behind us.**

**"****Kyoya!" I called, chasing after him.**

**"****Go find Kaoru."**

**"****No!"**

**He brought his head up and looked down at me. He was five-eleven. I was only five-seven.**

**"****While I enjoy your company and the rare pleasure of a smile from you, you should not be here with me."**

**"****Kyoya, you're wrong. You are important."**

**"****No, I'm not."**

**"****You are, to me."**

**He stopped walking and stared at me.**

**"****I should not be. You have Kaoru," he said, looking away again.**

**"****What's that supposed to mean?"**

**"****I do not deserve you. I'm not worthy of you. You should have someone much better than I am. Kaoru is that someone." He sighed and kept walking.**

**"****If I decide that I want to spend my time with you, that makes you worthy. I'm the judge of your worth to me."**

**"****On this matter, I don't trust your judgement. Just leave things be. You will end up with Kaoru, and I will stay alone."**

**"****What if I don't want to end up with Kaoru. Then what will you do?"**

**"****Then, on the day, I will hold you in my arms and show you my real feelings. But that day will never come."**

**"****Why the sudden change of heart?"**

**"****I promised you I would try to avoid confrontation with Kaoru. This is the only way I see to do that. My feelings for you must remain unseen from now on."**

**"****So you're going to give up on the one girl you care about?" my sister spoke up from behind us.**

**"****Yes. To keep my promise to her."**

**"****Well, then screw the promise. If you care about her, you shouldn't abandon her."**

**Kyoya stopped mid step.**

**"****I won't. I will not do what your mother did. That is the one thing I will never do."**

**Kyoya grabbed my hand and held it tight.**

**"****I promise, I won't abandon you, Zakia."**

**"****Foo, you know I don't believe in promises," I said to her over my shoulder.**

**"****No. But I do. And if he promises something to you, then I believe he will hold himself to it."**

**Looking back at Kyoya, he looked entirely dumbstruck. I burst out laughing.**

**A small smile lifted the corners of Kyoya's lips. As soon as I saw it, it was gone. He got out his phone and texted Tamaki. He didn't let go of my hand though.**

**When we arrived at the supposed music room was when Kyoya let go.**

**"****Better not to be seen together like this," Kyoya said.**

**"****You seem so different around others. It makes me miss the way you were in the Key World. Carefree and open."**

**"****I can not expose myself like that in this place."**

**_He's such a mystery. I can't figure out which is his true self. I suspect it was the guy on the beach, not the one in front of me._**

**Kyoya opened the door, and Furukia and I walked inside. He followed, the door banging shut behind us.**

**"****Glad you could finally join us, Notoskis. I thought I sent you a text."**

**"****We didn't get it," Furukia said, sparing Tamaki the truth.**

**"****Oh. Well, we normally meet here in the club for lunch. We discuss tomorrow's plans, and special events coming up."**

**"****And?"**

**"****Well, tomorrow, we're doing an English theme, in your honor. Club hours are also extended tomorrow, in celebration of your coming to the club. And next Friday, there is a dance."**

**"****What?" Furukia and I exclaimed.**

**"****Is there a problem?" Tamaki asked.**

**'****Oh, no, no problem. It's just that Zakia and I don't know how to dance!" Furukia said harshly.**

**"****We can teach you to dance. Tonight, at your dinner party."**

**My jaw dropped. I'd completely forgotten the dinner. It seemed Kyoya and I would not be going on a date today.**

**He met my eyes, and I saw the disappointment in his. Then his eyes lit up, and another small smile touched his lips.**

**"****Yes, that would work. That way, you'd be prepared, and we all get to have some fun."**

**"****Is that all?" Furukia asked.**

**"****I believe so. Kyoya?"**

**"****I can't think of any other club notices."**

**Furukia grabbed my hand and we ran out. We were on the top floor, and we had to get down to the first floor before the bell.**

**The phone buzzed in my pocket, and I took it out to read the text. Furukia would make sure I didn't hit anything.**

**"****Ahhhh!" I heard someone scream.**

**I ran into something hard.**

**"****Ow…" I moaned. "Furukia, you there?"**

**"****Oh, goodness! Are you okay? We're so sorry. My brother wasn't paying attention," Furukia exclaimed as she helped me up.**

**I opened my eyes and looked at person I had run into. She was a nice looking girl, in the school uniform dress. She was sitting with her butt on her feet and her knees spread, her hands supporting in front of her.**

**"****I'm sorry," I said, my voice coming out sounding particularly boyish.**

**"****Oh," she said, her eyes looking at me curiously.**

**"****Are you okay?" I asked, offering a hand down to her when I was fully balanced myself.**

**"****I'm alright. Do I know you boys from somewhere?"**

**"****You may know us from the Host Club. We're the Siamese twins, Furkia and Zakia Notoski."**

**"****That's right. The new boys."**

**"****I really am sorry. Have you been to the club before?"**

**"****I've considered going before, but I haven't made up my mind."**

**I wrote a quick note.**

**"****Your first visit will be free. Please come today, and request us? I'd like to speak with you."**

**"****Oh, thank you. Um...which twin are you?"**

**"****Zakia. What is your name?"**

**"****Hotaru Amaya, sir."**

**I grimaced. I didn't mind being a boy, but sir? Really?**

**"****Please, just, Zakia, alright?"**

**"****Oh, okay…"**

**"****I'll see you at the club?"**

**"****Yes. I'd be happy to talk to you."**

**I heard a door bang open upstairs.**

**"****Uh, I've got to go. I'll see you later!" I called as I grabbed Furukia's hand and pulled her after me. We fled further downstairs.**

**"****Notoskis, wait!" Tamaki shouted from somewhere behind us.**

**We didn't stop running until we were sitting in our seats when the bell rang. The rest of the hosts stood at the door.**

**"****Can I help you?" the teacher asked.**

**All of the older hosts vanished.**

**"****Well, get in here. You're not tardy."**

**The twins and Haruhi scurried inside and sat down silently.**

**The phone vibrated in my pocket. Thankfully silently.**

**I checked it in my lap, seeing I had a text from Tamaki, and another from Mori. I clicked on Tamaki's first.**

**_Stop running from your uncle and tell him what kind of tea to serve tomorrow and what decorations to use!_**

**_Look it up on the internet._**

**I didn't bother with his next text since it was him begging for more help. I clicked on Mori's.**

**_How r u 2day?_**

**_Better than yesterday._**

**_Glad 2 hear it. What's ur favorite color?_**

**_Black._**

**_That's kind of sad. It reminds me of funerals._**

**_It's dark. That's what I like._**

**_R u a dark person?_**

**_Sometimes._**

**_Do u think about killing urself, like some of those other dark people?_**

**_No._**

**That was a lie. The scars I normally hid on my arms could attest to that.**

**_That's ok then. I like blue._**

**_Y do u text, but don't really talk?_**

**_Talking scares me._**

**I had to hide a giggle. Furukia sensed the humor and peeked at the phone. She also had to disguise her laughter.**

**_Really? We never would hav pegged u 4 that, Mori._**

**_Yes. I talk 2 a certain few people, and that is all._**

**The teacher looked back at us. Furukia and I glared back. She turned back to the board.**

**_We'd better go, or we'll get caught. Ttyl._**

**I stuffed the phone back in my pocket and did my best to pay attention. Unfortunately, at our school in England, we'd already learned this during the first half of the year.**

**When the bell rang, Furukia and I were up first, running upstairs. Soon we were joined by the Hitachiins, Haruhi, Tamaki, and Kyoya. We were all trying to beat the girls upstairs.**

**We all grouped up around Tamaki's throne and waited for the first girl to arrive.**

**"****Welcome," we all said when the door opened. Rose petals fell through the air. A song played over the speakers in the ceiling.**

**"****_Kiss, kiss, fall in love! Maybe you're my love! I see you come, I watch you go. You never seem to leave me though. So is this love or hate, we'll see. You're making me crazy. Inside my dreams you're all I see. Well all I see is you and me. Lady, maybe, or host. I find I really don't mind. If I had to choose a rose in this garden of romance, maybe we could take this chance. Maybe you're my love! And I would find a hand like yours to take mine. And with one kiss we could stop time. And I'd fall in love with you. Tomorrow's far away. Let's place our hope in today. Just you and me in a beautiful spring, and we'll always fall in love again. I'm searching for the other you. The one that nobody else knew. But I'm afraid of what I'll find, don't leave me behind. Silent or cute or mischievous or cool or even princely type. Each time we part, I lose my mind. My resolve falters. Every time that our eyes meet my heart skips a beat or two. I'm not sure about you yet, but I know you're my love. And when we're too busy to talk I just imagine a sakura kiss. Love that's too wonderful to ever bear alone. Tomorrow's far away, our love is strongest today. Just you and me in a wonderful dream. And we'll always fall in love, again! Let's create new memories together that we'll remember, always. Maybe you're my love. And I would like to find a hand like yours to take mine. And with one kiss we could stop time. And I'd fall in love with you. Tomorrow's far away. Let's place our hope in today. Just you and me in a beautiful spring and we'll always fall in love again! Yeah, and we'll always fall in love, again! Kiss, kiss, fall in love! Maybe you're my love!"_**

**"****What the bloody hell is that?" I muttered, asking no one in particular.**

**"****The Host Club's theme song, of course," Tamaki answered.**

**"****Theme song?" I asked, an annoyed expression crossing my face.**

**"****Of course. Here at the Host Club, we pride ourselves on being the perfect entertainment for the young girls of Ouran Academy."**

**"****Is this guy for real?" I asked everyone but Tamaki.**

**"****Yeah," the others answered.**

**"****He seems to be," my other half answered.**

**My twin and I sighed.**

**Haruhi took a seat in her section, and the first girl walked over to her.**

**Several other girls came in, and all the other hosts got busy, except Furukia and I.**

**"****Excuse me?" a girl asked, half hiding behind the door.**

**"****A new guest!" Tamaki cried in his usual dramatic way. How he had known, I had no idea.**

**"****I would like to request Zakia and Furukia Notoski," she said quietly.**

**"****Yes, of course. Please come in."**

**The girl came in slowly, and I recognized. I couldn't think of it until Furukia whispered in my ear, "From the hallway earlier."**

**It was the girl I'd accidently ran into in the hall after lunch. Hotaru Amaya.**

**When the girl's eyes landed on us, she blushed lightly.**

**"****Hello, Hotaru," I said, nodding my head.**

**"****I'm pleased you could come," Furkia said, bowing.**

**"****Thank you for inviting me."**

**"****Your fee?" Kyoya asked, appearing next to her with a hand out. Instead of money, she handed him the little note I'd given her.**

**"****You gave her a free visit, Zakia?"**

**"****I ran into her in the hall. It was the least I could do."**

**"****Oh, I see. Well, in that case, welcome to the Host Club, Miss."**

**"****Amaya," she said politely.**

**Kyoya nodded at her and returned to the one girl who was with him. She looked pretty high end, even for this school.**

**"****Come, sit with us," Furukia said, leading her to our usual place on the couch.**

**"****Do you want some tea?" I asked.**

**"****Oh, yes please. What kinds do you have?"**

**"****I'll get you something," I said, getting up.**

**"****Thank you."**

**"****Keep her entertained, okay Furukia?"**

**"****Sure thing, brother."**

**I bowed and left them, heading for the kitchen.**


	23. Distracted Daydreaming

**I watched Zakia go to the kitchen. What was she doing? There was plenty of commoner's coffee to go around. What was she getting?**

**"****Kaoru, are you even paying attention?" Hikaru asked.**

**"****What?" I asked, startled.**

**The girls giggled.**

**"****Who were you daydreaming about?" Hikaru asked.**

**The girls gasped. The thought that we might be dating somebody made them so jealous.**

**"****Somebody special."**

**They gasped again.**

**"****Well, don't be mean, Kaoru. Tell us about her."**

**"****What do you want to know?"**

**"****What's her name?" the three girls all squealed at the same time.**

**"****That is the one thing I will not tell you."**

**"****What does she look like?"**

**"****She has black hair and green eyes that shine like a cat's in the dark. She's about as pale as the rest of us. When she isn't in her uniform, she's wearing black."**

**"****She sounds kind of...dark," one of the girls said.**

**"****I suppose you could say that."**

**"****What's her favorite thing to do?" another asked.**

**"****I think that's enough for today," I said, and rested my head on my hand.**

**The girls opened their mouths to disagree, but their time had just ended. Kyoya came out of nowhere and shooed them away. He disappeared just as quickly.**

**"****Get your head out of the clouds and back in the game," Hikaru said harshly.**

**"****I'm fine," I said, waving him off.**

**"****Then focus. You can daydream all you want after club. Besides, we're going to their dinner party. Cut it out."**

**I rolled my eyes but sat up. I didn't like putting up with these acts when Zakia was around. They annoyed her, and I didn't want to be annoying to her.**

**"****Keep this up, and your ratings will go down, Kaoru," Kyoya said from a corner.**

**"****I don't care right now."**

**"****If you try to have some fun, time will go by faster. And, also, I've heard from their mother that Zakia and Furukia might wear dresses tonight."**

**I perked right up hearing that. I let time fly past me. If Zakia wore a dress, wow…**

**Club was over before I realised.**


End file.
